We welcome this opportunity to comment on a review of the TV perimeter, and support ESMA’s objective of clarifying when systems and facilities qualify as multilateral.
We welcome this opportunity to comment on a review of the TV perimeter, and support ESMA’s objective of clarifying when systems and facilities qualify as multilateral.
EFAMA places huge importance on this revision of ESMA’s suitability guidelines, as they spell out in detail how investors can invest in sustainable investment products. If they are well designed, the guidelines have the potential to significantly boost capital flows towards sustainable investments; a goal that the European fund industry strongly supports.
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) welcomes the opportunity to respond to this important review of RTS 153/2013 and accompanying guidelines, in light of the procyclicality witnessed during the peak volatility of the Covid crisis. European CCPs already have standard anti-procyclicality tools in their rulebooks and this did lead to less volatile moves in margin in Europe versus other jurisdictions.
With the release of this proposal, the Commission is replicating the OECD / BEPS Inclusive Framework (OECD) Pillar Two Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) Model Rules that came live in December 2021 and addresses how Member States will implement them in a coherent and consistent way across the EU. The work of the Commission and the alignment with the work of the OECD / BEPS Inclusive Framework are to be welcomed.
EFAMA fully supports the Commission’s initiatives to fight tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning. The work of the technical teams that acknowledged our industry’s special requirements and the proposal of carve-out rules to protect investment structures and end-investors are, to a certain extent, to be welcomed.
UCITS equity funds remained in high demand in January, contrary to bond funds
This is evidenced in the second edition of EFAMA's report, "The European Asset Management Industry's Engagement in Financial Education Initiatives", released in March 2022.
The report, prefaced by Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, is divided into three parts.
The Commission aims to present a legislative proposal to address the tax-induced debt-equity bias, also to support the action plan for the Capital Markets Union and to encourage companies to finance their investment through equity contributions rather than through debt financing.
EFAMA provided high-level comments to the Commission’s consultation on the potential review of the Directive on Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services.
We agree with the Commission’s interpretation that the Directive is seen as a “safety net” for financial services not already subject to product-specific legislation. Fund and asset managers are already subject to various, more stringent and detailed sectoral legislations, such as (but not limited to) UCITS, AIFMD and MiFID as well as the (more recent) Cross-Border Fund Distribution Directives.
The asset management industry recognises the much-needed adoption of mandatory European sustainability reporting standards under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) proposal. Insufficient availability of meaningful, comparable, reliable, and public Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data is a key impediment to realising the full potential of the EU's sustainable finance regulatory framework. Financial market participants' sustainable investments need to be driven by real, verifiable and reported ESG metrics of company's activities and financial risks.
Nine associations (AFME, AIMA, EAPB, EBF, EFAMA, FIA, ICI, ISDA, SIFMA AMG) welcome the Commission's decision to grant a time-limited equivalence decision in respect of UK CCPs. However, when this time-limited equivalence decision expires on 30 June 2022, there remains a significant risk of disruption to clearing for EU firms and to their access to global markets.
Given the increasingly important role ESG ratings and data products providers play in investment processes, EFAMA welcomes the increased attention of regulators to this issue. In light of the growing regulatory scrutiny on the ESG characteristics of potential investments, improving the usability and reliability of the ESG ratings and data products is a key priority for the European asset management industry.
The European Commission recently adopted amendments to the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation and the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Directive. However, in contrast to earlier plans, the adoption of the revised Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) amending Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/653 has been postponed.
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