Skip to content
Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter September 19, 2020

EU Financial Market Governance and the Covid-19 Crisis: ESMA’s Nimble, Responsive, and Speedy Response in Coordinating National Authorities through Soft-Law Instruments

  • Niamh Moloney and Pierre-Henri Conac

The initial evidence indicates that EU financial market governance has performed well in its response to the Covid-19 crisis. In the European Union (EU), the need for coordination and cooperation over this crisis has been a particular concern given that national competent authorities (NCAs) operate under the single rulebook and supervisory action must, accordingly, be consistent. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has, however, shown itself to be nimble, responsive, and speedy in deploying its supervisory powers, including those additional powers it has recently been granted under the 2019 ESA Reform Regulation. This has particularly been the case as regards the application by NCAs of ‘supervisory forbearance’ and as regards the application of market disclosures rules, notably the financial reporting standard IFRS 9. ESMA has also been successful in coordinating the few NCAs which decided to impose restrictions on short selling. ESMA’s actions during the Covid-19 crisis underline the de facto power it wields through its soft supervisory convergence powers and the entrepreneurial but effective approach it deploys in their use.[1]

Published Online: 2020-09-19
Published in Print: 2020-09-14

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 29.3.2024 from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ecfr-2020-0013/html
Scroll to top button