Welcome to the monthly capital markets update, a briefing from our capital markets practice area rounding up the month’s regulatory developments within the equity and debt capital markets and looking ahead to future developments.
Malta Update
UPDATE NUMBER 07/2024/01
On 18 July 2024 the MFSA issued a Circular advising relevant entities of the updated version of the 2024 European Single Electronic Format (“ESEF”) Reporting Manual and a correction to the final report containing the proposed amendments to the RTS on ESEF published by ESMA on 11 July 2024.
ESMA published an updated version of the Reporting Manual for the purpose of harmonising the approach in preparing annual financial reports. This document aims at providing guidance on common issues encountered when creating ESEF documents. The updated manual includes technical improvements and guidance to improve data analysis and comparison.
Essentially, issuers should adhere to the updated guidance when preparing their 2024 annual financial reports to ensure compliance with the latest ESEF requirements.
UPDATE NUMBER 07/2024/02
On 31 July 2024 the MFSA issued a Circular advising relevant entities of the
the Final Report on the Guidelines on Enforcement of Sustainability Information (“GLESI”) and a Public Statement on the First Application of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS”) published by ESMA on 5 July 2024.
The GLESI are applicable to all competent authorities responsible for supervising sustainability information under article 24(4) of the Transparency Directive, pertaining to Issuers listed on an EU regulated market. Member State competent authorities are required to comply with GLESI.
The ESRS is aimed at large, listed issuers and does not cover the reporting requirements under article 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation. On this note, ESMA encourages members of issuers’ administrative, management, and supervisory bodies, as well as those responsible for assuring sustainability statements, to closely review the aspects outlined in the ESRS Public Statement while complying with the new reporting requirements. In this context, it is essential to emphasize the critical oversight role of audit and other relevant committees in sustainability reporting.
When preparing sustainability statements, ESMA urges issuers to refer to the guidance materials provided by the European Commission and EFRAG.
European Union Update
There were no updates from a European Union regulatory perspective for the month of July 2024.
