_On 25 November, the European Commission published a package of measures concerning the proposed establishment of an European Single Access Point (ESAP), which includes the following:

  • A Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European single access point providing centralised access to publicly available information of relevance to financial services, capital markets and  sustainability (the "ESAP Regulation"), which sets forth inter alia the rules and functioning of the ESAP to be established and operated by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA); the Annex to the proposed ESAP Regulation is listing all the EU regulations and directives that would be in scope of the ESAP,
  • A Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain directives as regards the establishment and functioning of the ESAP, which is introducing the amendments to each of the directives in scope of ESAP (as listed the Annex) that are considered necessary for the implementation of the ESAP Regulation, and
  • A Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain regulations as regards the establishment and functioning of the ESAP, which is introducing the amendments to each of the regulations in scope of ESAP (as listed the Annex) that are considered necessary for the implementation of the ESAP Regulation.

In a nutshell, ESAP would be a centralised point of access to the following information:

  • Information to be made public pursuant to the relevant provisions in the directives and regulations listed in the above mentioned Annex and pursuant to any further legally binding Union act which provides for centralised electronic access to information through ESAP, and
  • Other information of relevance to financial services provided in the Union or to capital markets of the Union or concerning sustainability that entities could voluntarily decide to  make accessible on ESAP.

As far as the funds industry is concerned, UCITS and their management companies, AIFMs, EuVECAs, EuSEFs and ELTIFs would for instance become subject to the requirements of the proposed ESAP Regulation.

The proposals above mentioned proposals would be now discussed at the level of EU Parliament and the Council for the purpose of deliberation under ordinary process.

The first submissions to ESAP are envisaged for 2024.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.