ESMA has published its Final Report on information to be provided by non-financial undertakings and asset managers to comply with their disclosure obligations under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD).

The recommendations define the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) disclosing how, and to what extent, the activities of businesses that fall within the scope of the NFRD qualify as environmentally sustainable under the Taxonomy Regulation. The key recommendations relate to the definition to be used by non-financial undertakings for the calculation of the turnover KPI, the CapEx KPI and the OpEx KPI, and the KPI that asset managers should disclose.

 

ESMA has launched a consultation on draft technical standards on crowdfunding under the European crowdfunding service providers regulation (ECSPR).

The new Regulation on crowdfunding regulates for the first time at EU level lending-based and equity-based crowdfunding services. It  introduces a single set of requirements applicable to CSPs across the EU, including strict rules to protect investors. The ECSPR requires ESMA to develop 12 technical standards – 8 regulatory technical standards (RTS) and 4 implementing technical standards (ITS) – on a variety of important topics.

This consultation paper seeks input on the draft technical standards developed by ESMA, on the following issues:

  • Complaint handling;
  • Conflicts of interest;
  • Business continuity plan;
  • Application for authorisation;
  • Information to client on default rate of projects;
  • Entry knowledge test and simulation of the ability to bear loss;
  • Key investment information sheet;
  • Reporting by crowdfunding service providers to NCAs (and NCAs to ESMA); and
  • Publication of national provisions concerning marketing requirements.

 

ESMA has today published 4 new Q&As, modified 11 existing Q&As and updated reporting instructions and an XML schema for the templates set out in the technical standards on disclosure requirements.

The new Q&As include instructions on how to report split and merged underlying exposures. The updated Q&As include revised instructions on how to report income fields for buy-to-let residential real estate mortgages.

The revised reporting instructions address technical issues identified by stakeholders since August 2020.

ESMA has also published an XML schema for each of the two standard reports (end-of-day report and rejection report) which a registered securitisation repository (SR) must provide.

 

EBA published an Opinion on KPIs and related methodology for the disclosure by credit institutions and by investment firms of information on how and to what extent their activities qualify as environmentally sustainable in accordance with the EU Taxonomy.

In the advice, the EBA underlines the importance of the green asset ratio (GAR) as a key means to understand how institutions are financing sustainable activities and meeting the Paris agreement targets. Information on the green asset ratio is supplemented by other KPIs that provide information on the taxonomy-alignment of institutions’ services other than lending and investing.

In the Opinion and accompanying report and annexes, the EBA elaborates on the KPIs that institutions should disclose, on the scope and methodology for the calculation of those KPIs, and on the qualitative information they should provide.

 

EBA published a consultation paper on draft implementing technical standards (ITS) on Pillar 3 disclosures on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks.

The draft ITS put forward comparable disclosures that show how climate change may exacerbate other risks within institutions’ balance sheets, how institutions are mitigating those risks, and their green asset ratio on exposures financing taxonomy-aligned activities, such as those consistent with the Paris agreement goals.

The deadline for the submission of comments is 1 June 2021.

 

EIOPA submitted its advice on the mandatory sustainability disclosure of insurers’ and reinsurers’ key performance indicators (KPI) within the scope of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive.

EIOPA proposes requiring two most relevant key performance indicators on sustainability that depict the extent to which:

  • the insurer or reinsurer carries out taxonomy-aligned activities – in terms of non-life gross premiums written
  • the insurer or reinsurer is funding or financing taxonomy-aligned economic activities – in relation to total investments

 

FATF published the outcomes of Plenary of 22, 24 and 25 February 2021

Delegates finalised work in a number of important areas: guidance to help countries take an effective, risk-based approach to supervision, guidance on investigating and prosecuting terrorist financing and work on illicit arms trafficking and terrorist financing, the latter two available to competent authorities. Delegates also agreed to release for public consultation a draft guidance to assist countries, financial institutions and DNFBPs in identifying, assessing and mitigating the risks of the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and updated guidance on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers.

The FATF also advanced its work on ongoing key issues: digitalisation, strategic review, transparency. The FATF also discussed the preliminary findings in its ongoing work to overcoming the challenges linked to the effective recovery of criminals’ assets, tackle money laundering from environmental crimes and the financing of ethnically and racially motivated terrorism.

 

Consob has ordered the blackout of 6 new websites that offer financial services/financial products illegally:

The total number of sites blacked out by Consob since July 2019 has thus risen to 391.

 

IVASS published Supervisory Bulletin No. 1 – Year IX – of January 2021

(only in Italian)

Il MISE, con Circolare del 25 febbraio 2021, ha stabilito le disposizioni operative per l’accesso ed il funzionamento della piattaforma informatica per “Incentivi fiscali in regime «de minimis» per investimenti in start-up e PMI innovative”.

La piattaforma informatica è attiva dal 1° marzo 2021 per la presentazione al Ministero delle istanze relative agli “Incentivi fiscali in regime «de minimis» per investimenti in start-up e PMI innovative” ai sensi dell’articolo 5, comma 1, del decreto MISE del 28 dicembre 2020.