All the breaches were found to have resulted from negligence on the part of Moody’s. The breaches related to:
- the issuance of credit ratings (ratings) in violation of the ban on issuing new ratings on entities where a credit rating agency (CRA) shareholder exceeds the 10% ownership threshold and/or is a board member of the rated entity;
- failure to disclose conflicts of interests related to the 5% ownership threshold; and
- inadequate internal policies and procedures to manage shareholder conflicts of interest.
The technical advice addresses the application of administrative and criminal sanctions, and particularly the need to further harmonise the administrative sanctions set out for infringements of MiFID II/MiFIR requirements. ESMA’s technical advice includes proposals to:
- amend the MIFID II requirements for National Competent Authorities (NCAs) to disclose and report information on sanctions and measures;
- amend the MIFID II requirement for NCAs to liaise with judicial authorities to gather information on criminal sanctions;
- include settlement powers among the range of sanctions and measures of Member States’ national NCAs to increase the efficiency of their enforcement proceedings; and
- amend the current requirements on MiFID II precautionary measures.
From 30 April onwards trade repositories (TRs) should not reject derivatives reports where field “Variation margin received” (1.30) is left blank for derivatives that are reported by the reporting counterparty as “Uncollateralised”.
The new Q&A provides guidance on the application of three important elements contained in Article 11(2)(a) of the MiFID II Delegated Directive, notably the condition that the inducement is justified by the provision of:
- an additional or higher-level service,
- to the relevant client,
- proportional to the level of inducements received.
Overall, the outcome of this exercise has been successful in terms of enhancing transparency for consumers and helping to reduce barriers to the taking-up and pursuit of the activity of insurance distribution in the internal market. Many NCAs implemented actions to ensure compliance with the IDD. These particular NCAs have adjusted their webpages and documents with information on general good rules, in order to:
- remove registration and organisational requirements which are under the exclusive competence of the home Member State;
- clarify that registration and organisational requirements are only imposed on domestically registered insurance intermediaries; and
- indicate specific general good provisions rather than quote compendia of national legislation.
The amendments cover six areas to provide
- clarifications on the definitions of VA and VASP;
- guidance on how the FATF standards apply to so-called stablecoins;
- guidance on risks and potential risk mitigation factors for peer-to-peer transactions,
- updated guidance on the authorisation and registration of VASPs,
- guidance for the public and private sectors on implementing the ‘travel rule’ to collect and share financial transaction data with regulators;
- guidance on information sharing and cooperation between VASPs and regulators.
The consultation will end on 20 April 2021.
(only in Italian)
Il MISE ha evidenziato l’impossibilità, per un soggetto giuridico, in base all’attuale quadro normativo, di essere titolare contemporaneamente di entrambe le qualifiche. L’eventuale acquisizione della qualifica di impresa sociale dovrà pertanto avvenire contestualmente (o successivamente) alla perdita della qualifica di SIAVS.
Borsa Italiana with Notice n.9796 of 29 March 2021 published the amendments to the Instructions to the Rules of the Market. The amendments described in the present Notice will enter into force on the 12 April 2021.
