European Commission Consultation on the establishment of a European single access point (ESAP) for financial and non-financial information publicly disclosed by companies: EBF response

CONSULTATION RESPONSE
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European Commission Consultation on the establishment of a European single access point (ESAP) for financial and non-financial information publicly disclosed by companies: EBF response
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BRUSSELS, 15 March 2021 – The European Banking Federation has responded to the European Commission’s consultation on the establishment of a European single access point (ESAP) for financial and non-financial information publicly disclosed by companies.

Key message:

Why is ESAP needed?

1. Currently published data are not always easily accessible, or easy to find, which increases the cost of access
2. Increase visibility of some entities (SMEs, non-listed) that need to attract financing and create new investment opportunities for investors;
3.  Help building the ESG data based on EU legislation and voluntary fillings;

ESAP is seen as:

1. A tool to centralize public disclosures, required by the EU legislation or voluntary filled in;
2. Opportunity for entities not in the scope of EU Regulation or information not mandatory required to be reported on a voluntary basis;

ESAP should not:

1. Impose new disclosure obligations or timelines. New disclosure obligations need to be introduced in the EU legislation first (make sure EU legislation is fit for purpose and mandatory public disclosure are useful ) It is therefore important to get the scope of any EU legislation right in the first place;
2.  Impose any new significant burden (information should only be reported once;

ESAP should:

1. Start small, think big:

• Initially limited number of key EU legislation in scope (e. g. Transparency  Directive, Accounting Directive, Prospectus Directive, revised Non-Financial Reporting Directive and data required Sustainability-Related Disclosure  Regulation and Taxonomy Regulation)
• Adopt “look through” approach for legislation in scope in case the datapoints  should be further limited in the initial phase (e.g. key ratios or KPIs from NFRD or other regulations)
• o at a later stage, product information (prospectus in particular) should also be  made available on the ESAP but this should not be a priority in the short term

2. Pull in existing public registers (interconnect existing MS databases)

3. Ensure information is easily accessible in user friendly format

4. Ensure information quality in a comparable and machine-readable manner including  those provided on a voluntary basis (common standards and structure)

5. Provide access to raw data

6. Include data source

7. Be publicly funded and governed as it is a public good. In this spirit, we believe that access to ESAP should be free for end-users.

Find the EBF response to this consultation by clicking the ‘full document’ button below:
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sustainable Finance page on the EBF website: CLICK HERE

Denisa Avarmaete, Senior Policy Adviser, Sustainable Finance, EBF
d.avarmaete@ebf.eu

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ABOUT THE EUROPEAN BANKING FEDERATION:
The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere.