ESAs Issue Statement on Application of Sustainability Disclosures Rule
ESAs published a joint supervisory statement on the effective and consistent application and on national supervision of the regulation on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector (SFDR). ESAs had issued the final report on draft regulatory technical standards on SFDR disclosures for financial market participants on February 04, 2021. In this recent statement, ESAs recommend that the draft regulatory technical standards should be used as a reference when applying the provisions of SFDR in the interim period between the application of SFDR (as of March 10, 2021) and the application of the regulatory technical standards at a later date (proposed date of January 01, 2022). The Annex to the statement presents the timeline for SFDR and Taxonomy Regulation disclosure obligations as well as the related regulatory technical standards.
This supervisory statement of ESAs seeks to mitigate the risk of divergent application of SFDR disclosures in the financial services sector within the period from March 10, 2021 to the application date of the regulatory technical standards on the content, methodologies, and presentation of sustainability-related disclosures under SFDR. For the sake of applying the provisions of SFDR without regulatory technical standards during the interim period, national competent authorities are encouraged to refer financial market participants and financial advisers to the requirements set out in the draft standards of the final report that has been submitted to EC on February 04, 2021. As most of the provisions on sustainability-related disclosures laid down in SFDR apply from March 10, 2021, ESAs see merit in specific guidance for national competent authorities, financial market participants and financial advisers in the interim period before the application of the regulatory technical standards. Additionally, in March 2021, ESAs will publish a consultation paper on taxonomy-related product disclosures under the Taxonomy Regulation, which amends the empowerments in Articles 8(4), 9(6) and 11(5) of the SFDR.
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Keywords: Europe, EU, Banking, Insurance, Securities, SFDR, Taxonomy Regulation, Regulatory Technical Standards, Disclosures, Sustainable Finance, ESG, ESAs
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