CESR publiceert drie verzoeken voor advies

CESR publiceert drie verzoeken voor advies zoals zij die van de EC heeft ontvangen

Richtlijn Markten voor Financiële Instrumenten ("ISD-2") Onderwerpen van deze tweede set vormen o.a.:

• uitwerking van de reikwijdte van de Richtlijn (met name: welke commodities vallen onder het bereik van de RL?)
• uitwerking van de definitie van investment advice (met name: wanneer is sprake van een persoonlijke aanbeveling?)
• uitwerking van de Conduct of Business Rules (bijvoorbeeld inzake 'know your customer': welke informatie heb je nodig?)
• uitwerking van de pre-trade transparantie-verplichtingen in het geval van internalisatie. 

CESR dient haar advies uiterlijk eind april 2005 aan de Commissie te leveren.
 
De Richtlijn zelf dateert van april 2004. CESR heeft op 17 juni een consultatiedocument gepubliceerd n.a.v. de eerste set mandaten uit januari 2004.

Belanghebbenden worden in het persbericht uitgenodigd om - via de website van CESR - uiterlijk op 29 juli 2004 te reageren op deze mandaten (bijv. of zij van mening zijn dat CESR andere onderwerpen in haar advies mede zou moeten overwegen).

Richtlijn Transparantie
De ontwerp-Richtlijn Transparantie, waarover in mei j.l. in Brussel politieke overeenstemming is bereikt, bevat voorschriften over de publieke informatie waaraan beursgenoteerdebedrijven in de EU zich moeten houden. De Europese Commissie wenst uiterlijk over één jaar van CESR advies te ontvangen. over nadere uitvoeringsmaatregelen. Onlangs heeft CESR hiervoor een werkgroep opgericht die onder leiding staat van Andres Trink, de voorzittervan de toezichthouder in Estland. 

Ook inzake dit mandaat worden belanghebbenden uitgenodigd om - via de website van CESR - uiterlijk op 29 juli 2004 te reageren op dit mandaat.

"Equivalence" van rapportage-standaarden
Bedrijven die in de EU beursgenoteerd (willen) zijn dienen op basis van de Prospectus Richtlijn en de Richtlijn Transparantie met ingang van 1 januari 2007 hun financiële gegevens te rapporteren volgens zgn IAS/IFRS-standaarden die door de EU zijn goedgekeurd. Daarnaast wordt de mogelijkheid geboden om volgens andere standaarden (GAAP, ofwel General Agreed Accounting Principles) te rapporteren, mits deze zijn goedgekeurd door de EU. Kandidaten hiervoor zijn: de "GAAP's" uit de VS, Canada en Japan. De Europee Commissie heeft CESR gevraagd hiervoor een advies te geven, uiterlijk 30 juni 2005. Binnen CESR gaat een sub-groep van CESR-fin (de permanente werkgroep inzake financiële verslaggeveing) dit advies opstellen. Deze sub-groep wordt geleid door Paul Koster, bestuurslid van de AFM.

Belanghebbenden worden uitgenodigd om - via de website van CESR - uiterlijk op 29 juli 2004 te reageren op dit mandaat.

Originele persberichten:

CESR LAUNCHES A CALL FOR EVIDENCE ON THE SECOND SET OF MANDATES FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON THE MARKETS IN FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS DIRECTIVE (MiFID)

CESR publishes today a second set of mandates from the European Commission on the legislative measures to implement the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. CESR's advice on this second set of mandates must be submitted to the European Commission by the end of April 2005. To prepare this advice CESR welcomes interested parties to respond to the 'Call for Evidence' (Ref. CESR/04- 323) by 29 July 2004.

When completed, CESR's advice on both this set of mandates and the first set of mandates received in January 2004 (which must be submitted by the end of January 2005), will assist the European Commission in developing a legal text which will take the form of either a Regulation or a Directive. This legislation will set out what is known under the Lamfalussy legislative process as Level 2 technical implementing measures.

When finalised, these implementing measures will complement and develop how the high level political objectives (known as level 1 measures of the Lamfalussy Directive) should be applied. This level 1 measure, in the form of the MiFID Directive was adopted by the European Council on 21 April 2004, following a second reading in the European Parliament in March 2004. The entire legislative package of measures will apply in EU Member States from 21 April 2006.

The second set of mandates requests CESR's advice, in particular, on what should be included in:

• the list of financial instruments to be established by the future implementing measures, in accordance with the requirements in Article 4 of the MiFID Directive. In particular, this will include clarification and greater detail concerning which commodity derivates should fall under the scope of the list of financial instruments and therefore the Directive generally;
• the definition of investment advice as identified in Article 4 of the Directive;
• the conduct of business rules in particular, this will cover 'know your customer' rules; what is considered to be the provision of advice and the rules of execution only (as identified in Article 19 of the Directive);
• respect to eligible counterparties (as identified under Article 24): namely, which entities can be allowed to enter into transactions without being subject to the protections set out under the conduct of business rules;
• how orders are made available to the market (as identified under Article 22);
• pre-trade transparency requirements: in particular the extent to which trades agreed off market should be disclosed (known as internalisation and identified under Article 4 and 27 of the Directive).

CESR has formed three expert groups to prepare CESR's advice, however, the additional mandates will fall to only two of these groups. The first four areas identified will be handled by the Expert Group on intermediaries' issues. This expert group is chaired by Mr Callum McCarthy (Chairman of the UK's Financial Regulator, The Financial Services Authority [FSA]). The last two issues will be covered by the Expert Group on markets. This expert group is chaired by Mr Jacob Kaptein (Commissioner at the Dutch securities regulator, the Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten]) A timetable for CESR's work in this area is attached in the note to editors (and can also be found in the Call for Evidence (Ref: CESR/04-323).

CESR ANNOUNCES A CALL FOR EVIDENCE REGARDING THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S MANDATES ON THE TRANSPARENCEY DIRECTIVE

The European Commission published today its first set of provisional mandates requesting CESR's advice on possible technical measures to implement the Transparency Directive. CESR therefore invites interested parties to submit any views by 29 July 2004 regarding what should be covered in CESR's advice to the European Commission.

The aim of the Level 1 Directive, approved on 11 May, 2004 by the ECOFIN Council and the Level 2 implementing measures, is to upgrade the information available to investors, thus helping them to allocate their funds on the basis of a more informed assessment. Market participants should benefit from improved efficiency, openness and integrity of European capital markets and the removal of certain national barriers linked to transparency requirements, which may discourage issuers from having their securities admitted to trading on more than one regulated market in the EU. In order to achieve these aims, the Directive (and the implementing measures that follow) would upgrade the current level and frequency of the mandatory financial information that issuers have to provide markets with throughout the financial year. It would also simplify requirements issuers must meet on the use of languages and on the way information is disseminated. 

CESR has been asked to submit its advice by 30 June 2005 and the entire package of measures must come into force by the end of 2006. The call for evidence and mandates (Ref: CESR/04-284) which are available on CESR's website covers in general terms, the following issues:

• Implementation measures for the application of the Directive's provision on the disclosure of information about major holdings;
• Dissemination of regulated information: This will include advice on minimum standards for the dissemination of regulated information by issuers (Article 17 (1)) and how issuers might make available periodic financial reports to the public (Articles 4 (5) and 5 (5));
• Procedural arrangements by which an issuer may elect its Home Member State;
• As regards half-yearly reports (Articles 5 (5)): CESR's advice should clarify the nature of the auditor's review and description of the minimum content of half-yearly financial information when the issuers does not make use of IAS/IFRS;
• Third countries: How equivalence will be assessed as regards issuers and UCITS management companies and investment firms (Article 19).

A timetable for CESR's work in this area is attached in the note to editors (and can also be found in the Call for Evidence).

Apart from this mandate, the Commission has invited CESR to present a progress report on possible European wide electronic networks of information about security issuers. A first progress report is expected from CESR in February 2005. Based on this progress report, the Commission will consider whether a second mandate should be sent to CESR requesting advice on mechanisms for storage of information and electronic filing of information with securities regulators in spring 2005.

CESR BEGINS WORK ON IMPLEMENTING MEASURES TO ESTABLISH EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN THIRD COUNTRIES GAAP AND IAS/IFRS AND LAUNCHES A CALL FOR EVIDENCE

Following receipt of a mandate from the European Commission (Ref: CESR/04-305), CESR has begun its work today to consider the equivalence between certain third countries' GAAP and IAS /IFRS and to this end launches a call for evidence for interested parties to submit comments by 29 July 2004. 

Both the Prospectus Regulation and the Transparency Directive state that third country issuers (non-EU issuers), who have their securities admitted to trading on an EU regulated market, or who wish to make a public offer of their securities in Europe, will be required, as from 1st January 2007, to prepare and present the financial statements that they publish on the basis of EU endorsed IAS/IFRS accounting standards, or, on the basis of the third country's national accounting standards if they have been endorsed as equivalent to IAS/IFRS.

In particular, the Prospectus Regulation and Transparency Directive require the European Commission to establish a mechanism and to take the necessary decision as to whether a given third country GAAP is equivalent to IAS/IFRS. For this reason, the European Commission has requested CESR to prepare for it some advice.

The European Commission has requested CESR's advice by 30 June 2005 to allow sufficient time for parties affected by the application of the Prospectus Directive (which will take effect from 1 July 2005) and the Transparency Directive (expected to apply from the Autumn of 2006) to adapt if necessary. A provisional timetable for CESR's work programme is attached.

As a first step in developing CESR's final advice, CESR will publish a concept paper which will establish the principles upon which equivalence could be assessed and the methods and criteria to be used for the technical assessment of equivalence. This concept paper will also be subject to public consultation. CESR will then conduct the technical assessment of the equivalence under the EC mandate, in accordance with the mandate and the principles set out in the concept paper.

In line with CESR's public statement of consultation practices (Ref: CESR/01-007c) available on CESR's website, the expert Group may establish an Advisory group, in addition to the usual public consultations. 

CESR will also look to the relevant third countries standard setters and regulatory agencies in order to get an appropriate and meaningful understanding of the third country GAAP and their possible equivalence with IAS/IFRS.

The work will be taken forward within CESR by the operational group, CESR-Fin, chaired by John Tiner, Chief Executive Officer of the UK FSA which will prepare, through its two sub-committees on endorsement (SISE) and enforcement (SCE). CESR's advice.