On Thursday 27 July, the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a report in which they identify the areas in which further progress needs to be made in implementing the Shareholder Rights Directive (see EUROPE 12623/29).
According to the report, commissioned by the European Commission, the level of disclosure and comparability of costs charged by intermediaries remains limited in the EU, mainly due to a “lack of harmonisation of types of fees or services and detailed disclosure requirements”.
“There is room for improvement to increase competition between players and reduce the negative impact of costs on investor commitment”, the two authorities jointly state.
In addition, the report states that the practices followed by third-country intermediaries are well identified in relation to European intermediaries - particularly for small, local third-country intermediaries - which may also “be due to the absence of standardised processes between European Member States”.
The European Commission should make use of the report submitted by EBA and ESMA when it is tasked with assessing the implementation of the Shareholder Rights Directive, which has been in force since 3 September 2020 (see EUROPE 12550/25).
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/89y (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)