On 30 July 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a final report concerning its peer review on the guidelines on exchange traded funds (ETFs) and other UCITS issues.

The peer review assessed six national competent authorities from Estonia (Finantsinspektsioon), France (Autorité des Marchés Financiers), Germany (BaFin), Ireland (Central Bank of Ireland), Luxembourg (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier) and the UK (FCA).  Based on the guidelines, besides identifying some good practices, ESMA found deficiencies in the national supervision of UCITS engaging in efficient portfolio management techniques.

A table on page 11 of the final report summarises the compliance level per jurisdiction. A further assessment table per jurisdiction can be found on page 28.

A summary concerning the findings for the UK can be found in pages 19 to 20. Among other things the final report notes that in the area of fees and costs, the FCA carried out a thematic review on securities lending by authorised fund managers in 2015 but there was no follow-up work. Moreover, the FCA does not provide any further guidance on fees, costs and revenues nor does it have an internal policy in this area to ensure adherence with the ESMA guidelines in a consistent and systematic manner.