ESMA publishes latest edition of its Newsletter

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has today published its latest edition of its Spotlight on Markets Newsletter.

Your one-stop-shop in the world of EU financial markets focused in May on two Ukraine-related statements – one of them on the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on half-yearly financial reports and the other one on investment fund portfolios.

Also in May, ESMA published a study showing how regulatory reporting data can be used to identify risks in derivatives markets, such as occurred in the case of Archegos. Data submitted under EMIR shows the build-up of exposures by Archegos, a US family office whose collapse in March 2021 resulted in losses of more than USD 10 billion.

In addition, a Supervisory Briefing was released to ensure EU-wide convergence in the supervision of investment funds with sustainability features, as well as to prevent greenwashing by investment funds.

ESMA also released a report on the Common Supervisory Action on costs and fees for investment funds, which was carried out with National Competent Authorities in 2021, highlighting the importance of supervision in ensuring investors are not charged with undue costs. Additionally, a study looking at the potential reasons behind the relatively lower costs, better performance, of ESG funds compared to other funds was published.