The Board of Supervisors (Board of Supervisors) heads the works of ESMA and has final decision-making powers in the adoption of technical standards for regulation and enforcement, opinions, recommendations, guidelines and other actions, including technical advice to European institutions, developed in the context of various groups of specialised work. It also has direct supervisory powers in specific areas (Risk Rating Agencies and Transaction Repositories). The Board of Supervisors is composed of the heads of 28 national
authorities.
The Management Board of ESMA is comprised of the Chair of ESMA and representatives of the national authorities, including the CMVM, and the European Commission as an observer, ensures proper performance by ESMA of its mission. The CMVM is represented by the Chairman of the Management Board.
The Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) helps facilitate
consultation by ESMA with stakeholders in areas relevant to ESMA’s tasks
such as the development of technical standards and guidelines. The SMSG is composed of 30 individuals drawn from across 17 Member
States and representing ESMA’s key stakeholder constituencies: academics, consumers, market participants, small and medium-sized enterprises and user of financial services.
The Corporate Reporting Standing Committee conducts all ESMA's work on issues related to accounting, audit, periodic reporting and storage of regulated information arising from European regulation concerning securities issues. Said committee monitors the enforcement of IFRS and performs coordination works of the national authorities encharged with implementing said accounting standards. Furthermore, the ESMAFIN discusses said activity with non-EU jurisdictions and monitors compliance of IFRS via the European Mechanism for Enforcement Coordenation.
- Corporate Finance Standing Committee
The Corporate Finance Standing Committee handles regulatory convergence issues of the Prospectus and Transparency Directive and Corporate Governance by drawing up technical advice and guidance for the European Commission as well as recommendations and drafts of technical rules for regulation and execution in order to ensure regulatory convergence in the European Union within said scope. Furthermore, it analyses the uniform conditions of the prospectuses of third country issuers with that of European prospectus as per the terms and for the purposes of European regulation.
- Documents of the Corporate Finance Standing Committee:
- Financial Innovation Standing Committee
ESMA's Financial Innovation Standing Committee defines methods for protecting retails investors as regards complex financial instruments particularly the relevant marketing. The purpose is to adopt guidelines that allow for a minimum harmonised approach for marketing of financial products at EU level.
Following the revision of Regulation 1060/09 on Risk Rating Agencies carried out in December 2010, ESMA is required to register and supervise Credit Rating Agencies in the EU. Said Committee assists ESMA in the tasks that are committed to it via Regulation 1060/09, proposing guidelines for joint action and ensuring coordination with entities outside the EU, such as iOSCO or third-country supervisors.
Said Committee deals with the issues relating to market integrity, namely issues on market abuse and short-selling.
The Secondary Markets Standing Committee addresses issues on the structure, transparency and efficiency of the secondary securities markets, including the regulated markets of MTFs, systematic internalisers and other trading platforms, covering all types of financial instruments (shares, bonds, derivatives, commodities, etc.).
The activity of this Committee concerns clearing/central counterparty and settlement of financial instruments. It also issues opinions and drafts of technical standards for regulation and enforcement to be submitted by ESMA to the European Commission, including matters such as the OTC market regulation of derivatives, the activities of central counterparties, trade Repositories or the development of Target 2 Securities project.
The Investor Protection & Intermediaries Standing Committee develops works related with the activities and investment services offered by financial intermediaries and pays particular attention to investor protection, including the conduct rules for financial intermediaries, the distribution method of investment products, the rules on investment advice and adequacy rules of transactions per customer profile. It also issues opinions and drafts on technical standards, guidelines and recommendations relating to the above services and investment activities. It also promotes the convergence of supervisory actions of the different national authorities in the scope of activities and investment services.
This Committe draws up inter
alia, technical execution and regulatory rules on EC Directives and
Regulations regarding the investment fund industry. It also deals with
collective investment schemes, covering the harmonised and non-harmonised
investment funds activity and proposes regulatory and execution technical rules
of the UCITS Directive and AIFM Directive.
The Committee focuses essentially on: (i) analysis of financial markets and its development, with special emphasis on the analysis of trends, potential risks and vulnerabilities and the assessing of innovations as they arise in the financial system and its impact on the market; and (ii) impact assessment of existing regulatory proposals or to be made within the ESMA.
