Questions and Answers

One of ESMA’s key objectives is ensuring a consistent application of the EU Single Rulebook for financial services. Any stakeholder or citizen can ask questions to ESMA relating to the practical application or implementation of the Single Rulebook.

Practical guidance for submitting new questions to ESMA

ESMA offers a tool for questions on the practical application or implementation of EU law and/or ESMA acts (such as Technical Standards and/or Guidelines), and will develop such questions into Questions and Answers (Q&As).

If, however, your question is straightforward or includes a request for information, rather than the development of an answer on a new question on the application or implementation of EU law and/or ESMA acts, please direct your question to info@esma.europa.eu.

ESMA will aim to develop Q&As in relation to new questions relating to ESMA acts that:

  • raise a new material issue with market impact and which could have a cross-border dimension within the EU Single Market;
  • are relevant for a broad set of stakeholders; and
  • where ESMA finds there is a need to provide guidance or clarification.

In case your question would require the interpretation of EU law, ESMA will forward your question to the European Commission to answer.

Before submitting a question in the Q&A tool please check among already existing Q&As to see if you find an answer to your question in the tool or in the documents.

If your question concerns a topic for which ESMA has a shared responsibility with the EBA and EIOPA, on the topics of PRIIPs, SFDR, EMIR and Securitisation, you may search the answer to a Q&A under the Joint Committee > Joint Q&As.

Though questions can be submitted in any official language of the EU, we would appreciate if your question is submitted in English, which is ESMA’s working language.

Please note that ESMA will only be able to provide answers to questions on policy that are of general interest for stakeholders across the EU.

Please note that ESMA will not develop an answer to questions that:

  • Are unclear or incomplete;
  • Are not related to EU law within ESMA’s remit (available in ESMA’s Interactive Single Rulebook, ISRB);
  • Are not submitted in an official language of the EU;
  • Seek ESMA advice on issues which only relate to the factual circumstances of an individual submitter which would not have any relevance to other stakeholders (i.e. specific practices, business models or products);
  • Ask ESMA where to find information on a given topic within EU law and/or ESMA acts or to explain the provisions that are already clearly set out therein; and/or
  • Relate to the national transposition or implementation of EU law, unless this relates to ESMA’s guidelines or peer reviews, for which ESMA publishes compliance tables and reports.
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What happens after you have submitted a new question?

When your question is of wider relevance and raises a new policy issue, ESMA will liaise with national authorities. Providing an answer might then take up to six months.

In that case, the final answer will be sent to you, and made available on ESMA’s website, you will be informed that ESMA is not in a position to address the issue(s) raised, explaining the reasons why.

ESMA may decide to merge, or group together, similar questions received from different stakeholders and provide one answer.

Questions on which ESMA is already working

The Q&A IT tool provides an overview of the questions to which an answer is currently under development. Questions appear in the tool when ESMA starts actively preparing their answer or when they have been forwarded to the European Commission (for cases requiring the interpretation of EU law).

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Questions already answered and their status

Though they are non-binding for market participants, answers to questions with wider relevance are being made public to help stakeholders. An overview of all Q&As per the legislative act issued by ESMA is available below. Publication of Q&As in the tool is ongoing.

It should be noted that only the Court of Justice of the European Union can provide a definitive interpretation of EU law.

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List of Q&As

Please note that these documents are not updated after 31 December 2023. For Q&As issued as of 1 January 2024, please search in the tool.

 

Topic Q&A document
Corporate Disclosure Q&A on ESMA Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures
Q&A on Prospectus Related Topics
Q&As on TD
Credit Rating Agencies Q&A on the Implementation of the Regulation (EU) No 462 2013 On CRA
FAQ regarding the EU regulation on Credit Rating Agencies: Common positions agreed by CESR Members
Fund Management Q&A on AIFMD
Questions and Answers on UCITS Directive
Q&A on the Application of the EuSEF and EuVECA Regulations
Questions and Answers- A Common Definition of European Money Market Funds- updated February 2012
MiFID (II) - Investor Protection Q&A on MiFID II and MiFIR Investor Protection Topics
Q&A on Best Execution
Questions and Answers- MiFID complex and non complex financial instruments for the purposes of the Directive’s appropriateness requirements
Q&A relating to the provision of CFDs and other speculative products to retail investors under MiFID
Technical Q&As on product intervention measures on CFDs and binary options
Q&A on MiFID Investor Protection and Intermediaries
Q&A on European crowdfunding service providers for business Regulation
Market Abuse On the Market Abuse Regulation
MiFID (II) MiFIR and Secondary Markets Q&A on MiFID II and MiFIR transparency topics
Q&A on MiFID II commodity derivatives topics
Q&A on MiFIR data reporting
Q&A on MiFID II and MiFIR market structures topics 
Q&As on DLT Pilot Regime
Benchmarks Q&A on Benchmarks Regulation
Short Selling Implementation of the Regulation on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps
Post Trading Q&A on ESMA’s EU-wide stress tests for CCPs
Q&A on EMIR implementation
Q&A on CSDR
Innovation and products Questions and Answers: Investment-based crowdfunding: money laundering/terrorist financing
SFTR Q&A on SFTR Reporting
Securitisation  Q&A on the Securitisation Regulation 
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