ESMA Publishes Peer Review Report on the Scrutiny and Approval Procedures of Prospectuses by Competent Authorities

As mandated in terms of Article 20(13) of the Prospectus Regulation (the ‘Regulation’), on the 21 July 2022, ESMA published its peer review of the scrutiny and approval procedures of Competent Authorities in terms of the Regulation.

Whilst ESMA gave the MFSA – qua National Competent Authority in terms of the Regulation – in terms of the Peer Review Committee’s expectations in its areas of assessment, the MFSA was deemed to partially meet expectations in the approval process for prospectuses. In fact, the MFSA was invited to revisit the ex-ante review of issue specific summaries which seem to go beyond the requirements of the Regulation. Moreover, the Committee highlighted that a number of jurisdictions, including Malta should review their approval procedures to see if they can be made more efficient.

All National Competent Authorities are required to follow up on the Committee’s recommendations and ESMA will be conducting a follow-up assessment to review the improvements made on the basis of the Peer Review Report.

For further information, please contact DF’s capital markets practice on dfcs@dfadvocates.com .