Eva Dauberton
News Editor
ESAs publish joint annual report for 2023
The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) Joint Committee (JC) has released its 2023 Annual Report. The EASs JC, comprising the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), closely coordinates supervisory activities and ensures consistency in practices across the three supervisory authorities.
According to the report, the focus areas for the JC in 2023 encompassed sustainable finance, digitalisation, consumer protection, and securitisation. Some key accomplishments and outputs in 2023 included:
Digitalisation
- The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA): The JC primarily focused on implementation and released the first batch of policy products and consultation papers on the second batch, which is set to be submitted to the European Commission by July 2024. Additionally, the JC developed two deliverables related to a pan-European systemic cyber incident coordination framework.
- The European Forum for Innovation Facilitators (EFIF): Through the EFIF, the JC delivered essential reports regarding information exchange and supervisory convergence in the FinTech sector in the EU. These include a joint ESAs Report on the 2023 stocktaking of BigTechs’ direct financial services provision in the EU and a new Taxonomy of Financial Innovation.
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)
The JC supported the European Commission in reassessing the SFDR framework by publishing a second annual report in September 2023 on the voluntary disclosure of Principal Adverse Impacts (PAI) under Article 18 of SFDR. The draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the review of PAI and financial product disclosures in the SFDR Delegated Regulation was also completed on 4 December 2023.
Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs)
The ESAs published additional Q&As, and competent authorities in five Member States reported a total of 15 administrative sanctions or measures under the PRIIPs Regulation in 2023.
Securitisation
The ESAs continued sectoral work on securitisation throughout 2023. This includes the final report containing the final draft RTS on the ESG impact disclosure for Simple, Transparent and Standardised (STS) under the Securitisation Regulation (SECR). The ESAs also produced a new set of 11 joint Q&As in February 2023, covering a wide range of issues, and initiated the preparatory work for the drafting of the JC report on the functioning of the SECR, launching a targeted consultation in December 2023.
Other work
Additional cross-sectoral JC work included joint risk assessments, the European Single Access Point (ESAP) legislative package, joint draft RTS under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), and the development of two amended Joint implementing technical standards (ITS) on the mapping of External Credit Assessment Institutions’ (ECAI) credit assessments to risk weights under CRR and Solvency II. Finally, following the adoption and publication by the European Commission of the draft ITS on reporting templates for conglomerates on intra-group transactions and risk concentration (entered into force on 31 December 2023), the JC worked on several joint Q&As that will be finalised and published beginning of 2024.
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UK Finance discusses the potential effects of DORA on the UK financial sector
UK Finance, the trade association for the UK banking and financial services sector, has published an article discussing the impact of the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) on UK firms.
The article covers:
- How UK firms may be affected by the requirements.
- Existing regulations that partially align with DORA, noting that the Bank of England (BoE), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have also been developing new operational resilience frameworks that are likely to share guidance with DORA.
- Some clarification on the DORA framework and its impact.
In the article, UK Finance also refers to its comprehensive DORA readiness assessment, which could benefit UK firms still grappling with the requirements.
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FinCEN publishes year in review report for fiscal year 2023
The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released its year in review for fiscal year 2023 report, providing an overview of key statistics and information related to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data reporting.
This report sheds light on how law enforcement agencies use and access BSA data, as well as how FinCEN leverages this information to carry out its mission, such as aiding in alerts, trend analysis, and regulatory actions.
By sharing this information, FinCEN aims to provide stakeholders with a deeper understanding of the collection and use of BSA data, specifically highlighting its support for law enforcement and national security agencies.
Click here to read the full RegInsight on CUBE’s RegPlatform