The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has conducted a peer review of how national regulators (national competent authorities or NCAs) supervise MiFID conduct of business rules on providing fair, clear and not misleading information to clients.

The peer review focused on NCAs’ organisation, supervisory approaches, monitoring and complaints handling in relation to information and marketing communications under MiFID. The Report found that there was overall a high degree of compliance amongst NCAs with the good practices identified in these key areas. However, a variety of approaches were observed, leading to different intensity of supervision.

• The Standards define forms, templates and procedures for specific areas under Solvency II;

• The Guidelines ensure common, uniform and consistent application of the new regime;

• The Standards and Guidelines aim to achieve level playing field and a convergent level of policyholder protection;

• Public consultation will end on 2 March 2015;

• The Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) pave the way for riskbased approval processes reflecting the nature, scale and complexity of the risks attached to the insurer’s business;

• The ITS need to be endorsed by the European Commission;

• The ITS will become legally binding once translated into all official EU languages.

• The event attracted insurance professionals from around the world;
• Important initiatives related to group supervision and the use of ORSA have been promoted at the Forum;
• Project parties demonstrated the move beyond mutual understanding in general towards concrete deliverables;

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) issued today its Guidelines on the use of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) in all the official languages of the EU. According to them, national competent authorities (NCAs) should ensure that all institutions under their supervisory remit obtain a LEI code. The use of LEI will apply to all information collected by EIOPA including Solvency II reporting and registers.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a consultation on the new Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) which entered into force on 2 July 2014. It is issuing two consultation papers seeking stakeholders’ views on the draft regulatory and implementing technical standards (RTS/ITS) and Technical Advice (TA), ESMA has to develop for the implementation of the new MAR framework which will become applicable in July 2016.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) is pleased to announce that registration for its annual conference is now open. The 4th edition of the EIOPA Conference, taking place on 19 November 2014 in Frankfurt am Main, is organised in the framework of Europe’s largest meeting point for the finance and insurance industry: the Euro Finance Week.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a public notice censuring Standard & Poor’s Credit Market Services France SAS and Standard & Poor’s Credit Market Services Europe Limited (S&P) for breaches of Regulation 1060/2009 (CRA Regulation).

Frankfurt, 14 May 2014 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has introduced its Financial Stability Report May 2014 in a new format. In addition to the regular analysis and assessment of risks, the publication now presents thematic articles aimed at deeper analysis of specific issues or broader policy discussions. Furthermore, the report uses some new analytical tools that are part of EIOPA’s ongoing work to develop new methodologies for financial stability assessment.

Frankfurt, 30 April 2014 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched today an EU-wide stress test for the insurance sector.

25 February 2014 - The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has put in place new consolidated registers (Consolidated Registers) on its website in accordance with Directive 2010/78/EU of 24 November 2010 (Omnibus Directive).

17 February 2014 - The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published today Question and Answers (Q&As) on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). The  purpose of this document is to promote common supervisory approaches and practices in the application of the AIFMD and its implementing measures. It does this by providing responses to questions posed by the general public and competent authorities in relation to the practical application of the AIFMD.

15 January 2014 - ESMA updated today its Q&A on prospectus related issues by including two new questions and answers.

7 February 2014 - The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an Opinion on practices to be observed by investment firms when selling complex financial products to investors. ESMA is issuing this opinion to remind national supervisors and investment firms about the importance of requirements governing selling practices under MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive).

Frankfurt, 19 December 2013 - The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today the Technical Report on Standard Formula Design and Calibration for Certain Long-Term Investments.
The Report was prepared upon the request of the European Commission. In view of the current economic situation, its purpose was to examine whether the capital requirements for certain long-term investments under Solvency II can be reduced without jeopardising the prudential nature of the regime.

13 December 2013 - The European Banking Authority (EBA) issued today a warning on a series of risks deriving from buying, holding or trading virtual currencies such as Bitcoins. The EBA said that consumers are not protected through regulation when using virtual currencies as a means of payment and may be at risk of losing their money. It also added that there is no guarantee that currency values remain stable The warning was issued while the Authority assesses further all relevant aspects associated with virtual currencies, in order to identify whether virtual currencies can and should be regulated and supervised.

Frankfurt, 12 December 2013 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) publishes its Financial Stability Report December 2013 with the updates on financial stability in the (re)insurance and occupational pension sectors in the European Economic Area (EEA).

12 December 2013 - The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced the composition of its Securities Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) following its approval by ESMA’s Board of Supervisors. These individuals will begin a term of 21 years on 1 January 2014 and will replace the group whose mandate expires on 31 December 2013.

Frankfurt, 2 December 2013 - The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a Report identifying a number of deficiencies in the processes for producing and issuing sovereign ratings at the three largest credit rating agencies (CRAs), Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s.

The Report follows an investigation carried out by ESMA into the sovereign rating processes at the three CRAs, between February and October 2013. The investigation was prompted by concerns about potential conflicts of interests, the impact of sovereign ratings on other types of ratings, CRAs’ capacity to cope with the number of rating actions during a period of high volatility, the use of bulk rating actions, and issues around the confidentiality and timing of rating actions.

18 November 2013 - The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a Review of the comparability and quality of disclosures in 2012 IFRS financial statements of listed financial institutions.
The Review makes recommendations aimed at enhancing the transparency of financial statements through the improvement of disclosures in certain key areas including: credit risk and impact of forbearance practices; liquidity and funding risk; asset encumbrance and fair value measurement of financial instruments.

Frankfurt, 14 November 2013 –The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) welcomes the trilogue agreement on the Omnibus II Directive. Omnibus II and the clarity over the Solvency II implementation timeline have been long awaited and will certainly contribute to the strengthening of insurance supervision in Europe.
This agreement is of extreme importance for EIOPA as a European institution, because it allows the Authority to fully perform its tasks related to the promotion of supervisory convergence and consistent supervisory practices.

14 November 2013 - ESMA has just published a discussion paper in preparation for the new Market Abuse Regulation – I have attached links to the home pages of both the press release and discussion paper below.

As this process will be of interest to market participants and across the European Union I would be grateful if you could post a link to the Consultation Page on your website in order to ensure we get as broad a range of responses as possible.

8 November 2013 - ESMA has just published two consultation papers in conjunction with its colleagues at the European Banking Authority (EBA) and European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) related to customer complaints handling and reducing the reliance on credit ratings in our guidelines.

As these consultations will be of interest to market participants and investors across the European Union I would be grateful if you could post links to the Consultation Papers landing pages on your website in order to ensure we get as broad a range of responses as possible.

Frankfurt, 4 October 2013 – The Board of Supervisors of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), following an open selection process, has appointed the members of its Insurance & Reinsurance (IRSG) and Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Groups (OPSG).

5 September 2013
The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) has published its second bi-annual Report on Risks and Vulnerabilities in the European Union’s (EU) Financial System.

3 September 2013
The European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) has published its advice to the European Commission on the equivalence of the regulatory regimes for OTC derivatives clearing, central counterparties (CCPs), and trade repositories (TR) of non-EU countries with the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). ESMA has assessed the equivalence of the regulatory regimes of Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the US. The third-country rules were compared with EMIR requirements for central clearing, reporting, CCPs, TRs and non-financial counterparties as well as risk mitigation techniques for uncleared trades.

20 August 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) submitted its formal opinion to the European Commission on 13 August, in response to the letter received on 8 July, on draft regulatory technical standards under Article 4(4) of Directive 2011/61/EU. The opinion was issued in accordance with Article 10(1) sixth subparagraph of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.

19 August 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) today launches a process to renew the Consultative Working Group (CWG) of the ESMA Corporate Finance Standing Committee (CFSC). ESMA is therefore calling for expressions of interest from stakeholders.

This call for expressions of interest is open to suitable candidates from any part of the EU.

For further information on how to apply, please refer to the call for candidates itself.

5 August 2013, London
The European Banking Authority (EBA) released today its second interim report on the regulatory consistency of risk-weighted assets (RWAs) for credit risk in the banking book. This report illustrates the outcomes of the next stage in the EBA’s review into RWA consistency in sovereigns, institutions and large corporate exposures, generally referred to as low default portfolios (LDP). The aim was to identify and further understand the sources of any material differences in RWA outcomes for portfolios which are specifically challenging for the banks due to limited availability of data. This analysis is closely aligned with the global work of the Basel Committee which recently released the results of their report.

22 July 2013 - The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Recommendation on capital preservation addressed to supervisory authorities in all EU Member States. The Recommendation aims to preserve the enhanced capital base that banks built by 30 June 2012, in response to the EBA’s 2011 recapitalisation Recommendation.

Frankfurt, 18 July 2013 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today the final report on the results of its two peer reviews on internal models.

18 July 2013

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has approved seven co-operation arrangements between EU securities regulators and their global counterparts with responsibility for the supervision of alternative investment funds, including hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds.

15 July 2013

The EBA published today a report featuring data on the remuneration of EU bank staff who received one million Euro or more in total in 2010 and 2011. The report focuses on the gathering of numerical data and provides a first analysis of remuneration structures across the EU. Overall, results show that the number of high earners is limited in most member states, but quite significant in others.

17 July 2013

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a consultation on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) aimed at implementing the provisions of the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) related to OTC derivative transactions by non-European Union (EU) counterparties in certain cases, and aimed at preventing attempts by non-EU counterparties to evade EMIR’s provisions.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a Discussion Paper dealing with the implementation of the CRA3 Regulation, which entered into force on 20 June 2013.

12 July 2013

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a Discussion Paper to prepare the regulatory technical standards (RTS) which will implement provisions of the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) regarding the obligation to centrally clear OTC derivatives.

Regulatory efforts concerning retail lending in the recent period continued to focus on home protection and on helping troubled foreign currency debtors. As a significant change, Parliament extended the deadline of opting in to the exchange rate barrier scheme until 31 May 2013. Several new provisions were added to the act specifying the related eligibility criteria and the National Asset Management Company (NAMC) in May 2013 to make the option offered by the NAMC accessible to more debtors than before.

Frankfurt, 4 July 2013 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its final report on the Quantitative Impact Study (QIS) on Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORPs).

4 July 2013 - The Board of Supervisors of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has re-elected Carlos Tavares as its Vice Chair. Mr. Tavares, who is Chairman of the Portuguese Comissao Do Mercado De Valores Mobiliários (CMVM), has completed an initial 21 year term and will now serve a further term of 21 years in the position.

3 July 2013
Over the last few years, the sale of complex products to retail investors, generally referred to as ‘retailisation’, has increased in Europe. The growth of this market can have implications in terms of financial stability as well as investor protection, and has, therefore, been subject to important policy initiatives, such as the European Commission proposed Regulation on Packaged Retail Investment Products (PRIPs), as well as ESMA measures in the area of UCITS (such as the Guidelines ETFs and other UCITS issues) and MiFID (such as the technical advice to the Commission as part of the MiFID review, the Q&A on complex and non complex financial instruments for the purposes of MiFID’s appropriateness requirements, and the Guidelines on suitability), and informs on-going work.

1 July 2013

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a peer review of the supervisory practices EEA national competent authorities (NCAs) apply in enforcing the requirements of the Market Abuse Directive (MAD). The Directive deals with the prevention of the dissemination of misleading information, the breach of reporting obligations and market abuse.

1 July 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has formally approved the registration of Spread Research SAS, based in France, as a credit rating agency (CRA) under Article 16 of the CRA Regulation. The registration takes effect from 1 July 2013.

27 June 2013
Please be informed that starting from July 1^st, 2013 the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority launches an online electronic reporting system for certain licensing, authorization, registration and cancellation procedures. All applications and notifications to HFSA should be submitted using the online electronic forms.

19 June 2013
Exemption for market making activities and primary market operations under Regulation (EU) 236/2012 of the European Parliament and the Council on short selling and certain aspects of Credit Default Swaps.

17 June 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its Guidelines and Recommendations on the Scope of the CRA Regulation. The Guidelines clarify certain aspects of the scope of the Credit Rating Agencies (CRA) Regulation for registered CRAs, market participants operating on the perimeter of this sector and national securities markets regulators.

17 June 2013
EBA, ESMA and EIOPA published their 2012 Annual Reports online. The Reports are available at the following links:

• 2012 EBA Annual Report
• ESMA Annual Report for 2012
• EIOPA Annual Report 2012

Frankfurt, 12 June 2013
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its first half-year report for 2013 on the financial stability of the insurance and institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) sectors in the European Economic Area (EEA).

11 June 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is seeking new members for the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG), as the current members’ term expires at the end of 2013. The SMSG’s aim is to facilitate ESMA’s consultation on its work with relevant securities markets stakeholders from around the European Union (EU).

11 June 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published Guidelines on remuneration policies and practices which apply to relevant staff of investment firms, credit institutions and fund management companies when providing investment services, and to national securities regulators enforcing those rules. 

The Guidelines strengthen investor protection by improving the implementation of the conflicts of interest and conduct of business provisions set out in the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) in the area of remuneration. Improving remuneration arrangements will help to create the right incentives and to prevent mis-selling.

7 June 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has formally approved the registration of Dagong Europe Credit Rating Srl (Dagong Europe), based in Italy, as a credit rating agency (CRA) under Article 16 of the CRA Regulation. The registration takes effect from 13 June 2013.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have published their final report setting out their Principles for Benchmark-Setting Processes in the EU.

30 May 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has formally approved the registration of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), based in the United Kingdom, as a credit rating agency (CRA) under Article 16 of the CRA Regulation. The registration takes effect from 3 June 2013.

30 May 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has approved co-operation arrangements between EU securities regulators, with responsibility for the supervision of alternative investment funds (AIFs), including hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds, and 34 of their global counterparts. ESMA has negotiated the agreements on behalf of all 27 EU Member State securities regulators as well as the authorities from Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The European Banking Authority launches today a consultation paper on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on criteria to identify categories of staff whose professional activities have a material impact on an institution’s risk profile. These material risk takers will be subject to specific provisions of the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) related, in particular, to the payment of variable remuneration. The consultation runs until 21 August.

The EBA agreed today on recommendations to supervisors to conduct asset quality reviews on major EU banks. While banks’ capital positions were significantly strengthened under the EBA’s recapitalisation exercise, the objective of the asset quality exercises will be to review banks’ classifications and valuations of their assets so to help dispel concerns over the deterioration of asset quality due to macroeconomic conditions in Europe.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authorities (EIOPA) launches the Call for Expression of Interest regarding the setting up of EIOPA Stakeholder Groups, the Insurance and Reinsurance Stakeholder Group (IRSG) and the Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group (OPSG), following the expiration of their mandates later this year.

News agency Bloomberg committed an act of prohibited market manipulation by publishing an erroneous headline ahead of the central bank’s interest rate decision last week – HFSA established in a resolution. It has therefore imposed a fine of HUF 10 million on the news service. Although the news was published due to a technical error, the supervisory authority believes that the news agency failed to apply control mechanisms to prevent false news being published.

Mr. Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which operates with the involvement of national financial supervisory authorities, on the invitation of Dr. Károly Szász, President of HFSA, visited Hungary on 16-17 April, 2013.

15 April 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a peer review report examining whether EU securities supervisors correctly apply ESMA’s guidelines on money market funds (MMFs).  The review compared supervisory and enforcement practices for MMFs of 30 supervisory authorities across the European Economic Area (EEA). EMSA reviewed those 20 jurisdictions that had transposed the guidelines into their national rules. 

27 March 2013
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched today a public consultation on Guidelines related to the preparation for Solvency II. The purpose of the Guidelines is to support both National Competent Authorities (NCA’s) and undertakings in their preparation for the Solvency II requirements.

20 March 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has formally approved the certification in the European Union of Kroll Bond Rating Agency Inc. (KBRA) under Article 16 of the CRA Regulation. The certification takes effect from 20 March 2013.

18 March 2013, London
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its second Annual Report on its supervision of credit rating agencies (CRAs) in the European Union.

The report summarises the supervisory work undertaken by ESMA, during 2012, in ensuring that CRAs complied with the CRA Regulation.  The report includes details on ESMA’s supervisory, registration, and policy work; and focuses on its investigation into bank rating methodologies and the follow up work to the March 2012 report on deficiencies in CRAs rating processes, governance and control mechanisms.

FRANKFURT, March 15, 2013 - The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the World Bank have signed an operational Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on developing the insurance sector.

The Board of Supervisors of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) yesterday elected Gérard Rameix as a member of its Management Board, which is responsible for ensuring that the Authority carries out its mission and performs the tasks assigned to it under its founding Regulation.

Frankfurt, 4 March 2013 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published today an Opinion on Supervisory Response to a Prolonged Low Interest Rate Environment.

28 February 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have published a warning to retail investors about the dangers of investing in contracts for difference (CFDs).
The two authorities are concerned that during the current period of low investment returns, inexperienced retail investors across the EU are being tempted to invest in complex financial products, which they may not fully understand and which can end up costing them money they cannot afford to lose.

Budapest, 13 February 2013
The investigation carried out by Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority (HFSA) to review the quoting procedures of the Budapest interbank offered rate (BUBOR) has revealed internal regulatory, risk management and control deficiencies. HFSA has notified the concerned banks in writing about its requirements relative to the appropriate methodology, as well as the development of the management and control systems.

Frankfurt, 22 February 2013 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published today its Report on Good Practices related to the provision of information for Defined Contribution (DC) schemes. The Report is part of EIOPA own-initiative work.  It is addressed to policymakers responsible for information disclosure to pension scheme members

19 February 2013

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its Final Report on The Proxy Advisor Industry. The report contains an analysis of the responses received to its March 2012 consultation and sets out the next steps for ESMA and the industry.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published today its first report on trends, risks and vulnerabilities in European Union (EU) securities markets and a risk dashboard for the 4th Quarter 2012.  The report looks at the performance of securities markets in 2012, assessing both trends and risks in order to develop a comprehensive picture of systemic and macro-prudential risks in the EU that can serve both national and EU bodies in their risk assessments.  By regularly looking into cross-border and cross-sector trends and risks both at the wholesale and retail level, ESMA’s report will contribute to promoting financial stability and enhancing consumer protection.

1 February 2013
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final Guidelines and a Feedback Statement on the Exemption for market making activities and primary market operations under the Short Selling Regulation.  The Guidelines are aimed at providing market participants and national supervisors with clarity on the criteria to be met to benefit from a market making exemption, and the conditions to be used in assessing the notifications.

In a resolution dated 25 January 2013, the HFSA revoked the foundation and operating licence of AIM Általános Biztosító Zrt. (AIM General Insurance Co. Ltd.) and ordered the institution’s final settlement (winding up procedure) effective 28 January 2013.

23 January 2013
The EBA adopted a formal Recommendation to ensure that major EU cross-border banks develop group recovery plans by the end of 2013. The plans shall be submitted to the respective competent authorities and discussed within colleges of supervisors. The aim of the Recommendation is to spur the development of recovery plans and to foster convergence on the highest standards across the Union.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2013 CRA Supervision and Policy Work Plan.
In the work plan, ESMA sets out the key elements of its supervisory programme for the 19-registered and 1 certified credit rating agencies (CRAs) in the European Union (EU).  The annual work plan is approved by ESMA’s Board of Supervisors, which is composed of the relevant authorities from the EU’s 27 Member States.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published a review of 2011 IFRS financial statements related to impairment testing of goodwill - the value of intangible assets which has a quantifiable value - and other tangible assets.  The review, which looked into the accounting practices of a sample of 235 European issuers from 23 countries, found €800bn (€790bn in 2010) worth of goodwill balances in the 2011 financial statements of issuers, with 5% (c. €40bn) of that amount recognised as impairment losses in 2011.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have today published the results of their joint work on Euribor and propose principles for benchmark rate-setting processes. The publications include:

• A review of Euribor’s administration and management and clear recommendations to the Euribor-European Banking Federation (EEBF) to improve the governance and transparency of the rate-setting process;

• Formal EBA Recommendations to national authorities on the supervisory oversight of banks participating in the Euribor panel; and

• A joint ESMA-EBA consultation on Principles for Benchmark Setting Processes in the EU which establish a framework for the conduct of benchmark rate-setting and the activities of participants in the process.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a Consultation Paper on Guidelines and Recommendations on the scope of the CRA Regulation.  The draft Guidelines aim to provide clarification on certain aspects of the scope of the Credit Rating Agencies (CRA) Regulation to registered CRAs, other market participants operating on the perimeter of this sector and to national securities markets regulators.

Frankfurt, 20 December 2012 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its Opinion on interim measures regarding Solvency II.

Frankfurt, 19 December 2012 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) will assess the impact of the Solvency II Long-Term Guarantees (LTG) package as requested by the Trilogue parties (the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission).

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a Public Statement on the Treatment of Forbearance Practices in IFRS Financial Statements of Financial Institutions.  The statement deals with the definition of forbearance practices, their impact on the impairment of financial assets and the specific disclosures relating to forbearance activities that listed financial institutions should include in their IFRS financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2012.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has approved the co-operation arrangements between the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA and the EU securities regulators for the supervision of alternative investment funds, including hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds. ESMA has negotiated the agreement with FINMA on behalf of all 27 EU national competent authorities for securities markets regulation.

Leaders of authorities with responsibility for the regulation of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets in Australia, Brazil, the European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Ontario, Quebec, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States,1 met on November 28, 2012 to discuss reform of the OTC derivatives market as agreed by the leaders at the G-20 Pittsburgh Summit in September 2009.

Frankfurt, 14 December 2012 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its second half-year report for 2012 on the financial stability of the insurance and institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) sectors in the European Economic Area (EEA).

The general objective of recommendations issued by the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority(hereinafter the Authority, English acronym: HFSA) is the improved predictability in the application of law and the protection of the interests of clients, who take part in the proceedings, in order to foster uniform application of legislation referred to the the competence of the Authority. The recommendations issued by the Authority set out principles over and above the provisions of law considered as a minimum requirement. When evaluating financial organisations and its stating findings or taking measures, the Authority considers not only conducts that deviate from the Recommendation, but also the implementation of, and compliance with, the principles set forth in the Recommendation.

Frankfurt, 4 December 2012 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) held today in Frankfurt its second Consumer Strategy Day, which attracted nearly 200 participants.
The purpose of the event was to debate important regulatory developments and consumer trends with stakeholders.

Before consumers enter into a loan, they need to understand its real cost and take the time to reflect, especially on the monthly repayment. The Consumer Credit Directive lists the information that need to be given in advertising of credits and as part of credit offers and provides for a 14 days reflexion time, during which the consumer may back out of the agreement without charge. Following a crackdown on websites offering consumer credits, more than 3 out of 4 sites checked a year ago now comply with EU law (compared with only 30% in September 2011). Further improvements should come as national authorities pursue their actions on outstanding cases. In this EU co-ordinated "Sweep" investigation, which took place in September 2011, national enforcement authorities checked 565 websites across the 27 Member States, Norway and Iceland. Of the 70% of sites flagged for further investigation at the time, 10% were finally deemed compliant and 35% were corrected after action by national authorities. The remaining websites either no longer exist or are subject to on-going administrative or court proceedings.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its guidelines on the assessment of the suitability of members of the management body and key function holders. These Guidelines set out the process, criteria and minimum requirements for assessing the suitability of those persons and are ultimately aimed at ensuring robust governance arrangements and appropriate oversight.

The Regulation (EU) No 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps (the Regulation) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 24 March 2012 and is applicable from 1 November 2012.

More information is available on: https://www.kozzetetelek.hu/en/short_selling/short_selling_EN.html

Deadline of the 1st SSR notification day in Hungary: 6th November 2012, 15:30 CET.

27 October 2012

Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority (HFSA)

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today a Report on Industry Training Standards applied by national competent authorities. The Report is part of EIOPA’s activities in the area of consumer protection and is related to the task of developing training standards for the industry as required by the Regulation establishing EIOPA.

3 October 2012 - The European Banking Authority discloses today the final report on its EU-wide recapitalisation exercise and the data on all individual banks. Overall, the exercise led to an increase of banks’ capital positions of more than €200bn. 27 banks with an initial shortfall that submitted capital plans have strengthened their capital position by €116bn. Considering the still challenging market environment, the EBA’s Board of Supervisors underlined the need for banks to maintain their capital levels in view of the implementation of the new regulatory framework. In this respect, the EBA will adopt a new Recommendation on capital conservation once the final CRD IV/CRR text is agreed.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published its technical standards on the Regulation on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories (EMIR), which set out the specific details of how EMIR’s requirements are to be implemented. 

The European Banking Authority adopted today the final draft of the technical standards on capital requirements for Central Counterparties (CCP) under EMIR. The draft will now be sent to the European Commission for final adoption. The EBA also adopted an opinion to the EC on the same topic.

The main objective of the MoU is to ensure optimal cooperation in supervision, in particular for insurance groups with international activities in the European economic area (EEA) and Switzerland. The Memorandum creates a formal basis for cooperation in the following areas: group supervision, assistance in the work of EEA and FINMA colleges of supervisors, action required in emergency situations, safeguarding financial stability by monitoring and assessing risks, interconnectedness and conducting stress tests.

The internet is a legitimate channel that is increasingly used by firms to market investment products to retail investors. Firms use the internet to offer retail investors instant access to their systems.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published guidelines on Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and other UCITS issues. These guidelines will apply to national securities markets regulators and UCITS management companies.

UCITS are authorised funds which can be sold to retail investors across the European Union. Today’s guidelines set out the information that should be given to investors about index-tracking UCITS and UCITS ETFs, together with specific rules for UCITS when entering into over-the-counter financial derivative transactions and efficient portfolio management techniques. The guidelines also set out the criteria for financial indices in which UCITS may invest.

The guidelines were developed following a review of the current regulatory regime by ESMA which was found to be insufficient to address the specific features and risks associated with these types of funds and techniques.

Frankfurt, 13 July 2012 – The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) hosted on 11 July a Steering Committee Meeting of the EU/US insurance dialogue project. The 4th Steering Committee Meeting was hosted by Gabriel Bernardino, Chairman of EIOPA.

• The report focuses on what is to be achieved by the ORSA rather than on how it is to be performed

• Proportionality is a key feature of the ORSA

• Insurers’ Boards should take an active part in the ORSA, including steering on how the assessment is to be performed and challenging its results

• Insurer’s assessment of the overall solvency needs should be forward"looking

The European Banking Authority published today an overview report on the implementation of the capital exercise. In line with the EBA’s Recommendation, the vast majority of the banks in the sample meet the required ratio of 9% Core Tier 1 (CT1). For the few banks that were not fully able to meet the capital level using private sources, backstop measures are currently being implemented to ensure they are in line with the EBA’s Recommendation. While the market environments remain challenging, the overall resilience of the European banking system has improved, without any significant adverse impact on lending into the real economy.

• EIOPA proposes a balanced approach towards costs and benefits

• The proposed reporting templates will improve the efficiency of the risk-based  Supervisory Review Process and, thus, will enhance protection of policyholders 

• EIOPA proposal will contribute to financial stability and to the assessment and monitoring of market developments 

• EIOPA strongly believes that the industry should use the current proposal as a basis to start the implementation phase

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published two final sets of guidelines aimed at enhancing the protection of investors in the EU. The guidelines relate to the provisions under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) relating to the suitability of investment advice and the compliance function.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its first set of Guidelines with a view to establishing consistent, efficient and effective supervisory practices and ensuring common, uniform and consistent application of EU law.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today three consultations on Draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on disclosure for own funds, on supervisory reporting requirements for liquidity coverage and stable funding, and on supervisory reporting requirements for leverage ratio.

The EBA published today two sets of Guidelines on Stressed Value-At-Risk (Stressed VaR) and on the Incremental Default and Migration Risk Charge (IRC) modelling approaches employed by credit institutions using the Internal Model Approach (IMA).

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a report on the use of administrative and criminal sanctions by European Union (EU) national regulators under the Market Abuse Directive (MAD). The report provides a comparison of the use of administrative sanctioning powers across 29 EEA Member States for 2008-2010. The results of the report will provide input to the legislative process on the new market abuse regime.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announces today that it considers the regulatory frameworks for credit rating agencies (CRAs) of Argentina and Mexico to be in line with European Union rules. Today’s announcement allows European financial institutions to continue using credit ratings issued in these countries for regulatory purposes after 30 April 2012.

EIOPA has published today the press release on good practices for disclosure and selling of variable annuities.

ESMA publishes today a consultation paper (ESMA/2012/44) setting out future guidelines on UCITS Exchange-Traded Funds (UCITS ETFs) and other UCITS-related issues.  The proposals cover both synthetic and physical UCITS ETFs and detail the obligations to come for UCITS ETFs, index-tracking UCITS, efficient portfolio management techniques, total return swaps and strategy indices for UCITS

ESMA issues regarding extending the transitional period for the use of non-EU credit ratings, the endorsement of the Australian CRA regime and the adoption of four regulatory technical standards in the field of credit rating agencies.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published a formal Recommendation, and the final figures, related to banks’ recapitalisation needs. These measures form part of a broader European package, agreed by the European Council on 26 October and confirmed during the ECOFIN Council on 30 November, to address the current situation in the EU by restoring stability and confidence in the markets.

ESMA (the European Securities and Markets Authority)

• warns investors against dealing with unauthorised firms offering foreign exchange investments, and
• alerts retail investors to the main risks involved in forex trading

The three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), ESMA, EBA, and EIOPA respectively, today appointed members and alternates of their joint Board of Appeal. The joint Board of the ESAs is independent from their administrative and regulatory structures and will hear appeals from certain decisions taken by the ESAs. The decisions of the Board itself are subject to appeal before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

On 31 October 2011 ESMA announced the successful registrations of DBRS, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investor Service, and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) as Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs). In order to do business in the European Union (EU), the EU Regulation on Credit Rating Agencies ((EC) No 1060/2009 – “the CRA Regulation”)1 re-quires CRAs to be registered in compliance with the requirements of the Regulation. Today’s registrations are valid for all European entities of DBRS, Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P respectively (see annex table 1 with the list of the EU entities registered).

26 October 2011
The European Banking Authority (EBA) supports the agreement at EU level on measures to restore confidence in the banking sector. These measures form part of a broader package aimed at addressing the current situation in the EU by restoring stability and confidence in the markets. Their implementation is conditional on the other components of the package being fully clarified and endorsed.

The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) has today published a set of recommendations on lending in currencies other than the legal tender of the relevant country (“foreign currency lending”) addressed to the Member States of the EU, their national supervisory authorities and the European Banking Authority.