On 28 September 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its Annual Work Programme for 2024.
In its Annual Work Programme, ESMA sets out the following objectives for 2024:
- In 2024, ESMA will develop rules for sustainable finance as part of the new European Green Bond Regulation and will deliver its final report on greenwashing, proposing actions to combat this practice. ESMA will finalise technical standards for the European Single Access Point and continue preparatory work on the necessary IT infrastructure that will support it.
- In the digital finance area, ESMA will conclude the work on technical standards and guidelines in relation to the MiCA regulation and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
- ESMA will work to enhance financial stability and investor protection also through tasks mandated in the asset management area under the recently concluded reviews of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers, Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directives, and the Central Securities Depositories Regulation.
- ESMA will assist in the finalisation (and possibly start of implementation) of the new Retail Investment Strategy and will also assess whether Member State competent authorities have sufficiently improved their supervision of investment firms’ cross-border activities.
- In 2024, ESMA expects to continue to adapt its supervisory efforts to be ready for the entry into application of DORA in 2025 and begin the process of selecting and authorising Consolidated Tape Providers in the EU.
- Information and Communication Technologies is a key part of ESMA’s strategy for 2023-2028, and ESMA will work on further improving data quality outputs for all supervisory data and enhance the ability to share and analyse this data, in close cooperation with Member State competent authorities and other EU authorities.
