On 15 October 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a Final Report containing draft technical standards under the Regulation on the transparency and integrity of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating activities (the ESG Regulation).

Background

The ESG Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 12 December 2024 and entered into force on 3 January 2025.

The ESG Regulation contains a number of empowerments for ESMA to deliver draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) in the areas of authorisation, recognition, separation of activities and disclosures.

ESMA launched a public consultation on the draft RTS in May 2025. The consultation closed on 20 June 2025.

Final Report

In the Final Report ESMA states that it has revised the draft RTS it consulted on to take into account the feedback received.

In particular, for the draft RTS on authorisation and recognition ESMA has either removed or simplified certain information requirements. For the draft RTS on separation of business, the requirement for a physical separation of staff remains but other requirements such as requirements for network segmentation have been clarified or removed when it was judged to be imposing excessive burden. For the draft RTS on disclosures certain elements have been revised to ensure they are practically achievable by ESG rating providers, while others have been removed when it was judged they did not provide sufficient added value for the burden that was imposed.

Next Steps

ESMA has submitted the draft RTS to the European Commission for adoption by means of a Commission Delegated Regulation.

The draft RTS will also be subject to non-objection by the European Parliament and Council.