Equivalence Decisions - Withdrawal
Dear European Securities and Markets Authority,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as set forth by Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents that contain the following information, regarding – if applicable – the withdrawal of equivalence decisions rendered by the European Commission and/or European Parliament within the European Securities and Markets Authority’s remit:
- all technical reports and/or documents prepared by European Securities and Markets Authority and issued to support the withdrawal decisions taken by the European Commission and/or European Parliament (if any);
- all documents related to the withdrawal of equivalence decisions in which the European Securities and Markets Authority has provided assistance, including minutes of meetings held by the ESFS regulators, the European Commission, and/or the European Parliament (if any);
- the timeframes comprising the receipt of requests for technical analysis and the issuance of the respective technical reports to support the aforementioned withdrawal decisions taken by the European Commission and/or European Parliament (if any); and
- all correspondence and other kinds of communication, including attachments (such as emails, letters, and/or telephone call notes), between the regulators (including overseas regulators of the third countries for which the equivalence decisions were rendered), other organizations, and the European Commission/European Parliament with respect to the aforementioned equivalence withdrawal decisions (if any).
The aim is to better understand how the ESFS regulators have engaged with equivalence withdrawal decisions; the procedural steps that have been taken prior to a withdrawal of an equivalence decision; and, the time each step in the process to reach a withdrawal decision takes.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any doubts or questions in regards to this request.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Pedro Carvalho
Dear Sir or Madam,
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Dear Mr Carvalho,
We acknowledge receipt of your message and will get back to you in due course.
With kind regards
Enrico Gagliardi
Dear Mr Carvalho,
We are writing with reference to your two emails of 21 February 2022 (the
Requests), by which you asked ESMA to provide you with several documents
"which contain the following information regarding all the equivalence
decisions [and -if applicable- the withdrawal of equivalence decisions]
rendered by the European Commission and/or European Parliament within the
European Securities and Markets Authority’s remit:
- all technical reports and/or documents prepared by European Securities
and Markets Authority and issued to support the decisions [/withdrawal
decisions] taken by the European Commission and/or European Parliament
[(if any)];
- all documents related to the equivalence decisions [/withdrawal of
equivalence decisions] in which the European Securities and Markets
Authority has provided assistance, including minutes of meetings held by
the ESFS regulators, the European Commission, and/or the European
Parliament [(if any)];
- the timeframes comprising the receipt of requests for technical analysis
and the issuance of the respective technical reports to support the
aforementioned decisions [/withdrawal decisions] taken by the European
Commission and/or European Parliament [(if any)]; and
- all correspondence and other kinds of communication, including
attachments (such as emails, letters, and/or telephone call notes),
between the regulators (including overseas regulators of the third
countries for which the equivalence decisions were rendered), other
organizations, and the European Commission/European Parliament with
respect to the aforementioned equivalence decisions [/equivalence
withdrawal decisions (if any)]”.
We would like to draw your attention to the nature and the scope of the
Requests which both (i) appear to be of significantly broad scope, (ii)
pertain to a very large number of documents, each of which needs to be
assessed individually against the exceptions set out in Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001, and (iii) cover a significant time span.
Such a detailed analysis cannot be carried out within the normal time
limits set out in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. In this
regard, we would like to notify of the extension of the time-limit for
providing you with a response by another 15 working days in accordance
with Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. However, it would still
appear that the treatment of the Requests would substantially impair the
normal functioning of our services for the period of these 30 working
days.
Against this background, given the broad scope of the Requests and
considering also your expressed interest in understanding better “how the
ESFS regulators have engaged with [equivalence withdrawal/] equivalence
decisions; the procedural steps that have been taken prior to [a
withdrawal of an equivalence/] an equivalence decision being rendered;
and, the time each step in the process to reach a [withdrawal decision/]
decision takes”, we would like to confer with you pursuant to Article 6(3)
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 with a view to proposing a fair solution.
In particular, our proposed fair solution is that:
• ESMA Staff assists you in identifying documents that are already
publicly available and provides you with relevant links within 5
working days following receipt of your response to this communication;
and
• a conference call is set up where ESMA staff will provide you with
further information about the procedural steps of, and timeline for,
equivalence decisions/ withdrawal of equivalence. In this regard, we
would kindly invite you to send us in advance a detailed list of
questions that you would like to pose at the call.
Kindly let us know whether you accept this proposal for a fair solution by
18 March 2022.
Finally, please also note that pending your response, we will put on hold
the deadline to get back to you in relation to the content of the
Requests.
Kind regards,
Enrico Gagliardi
Dear Enrico Gagliardi,
Thank you very much for your reply and time.
I'm happy with the proposed fair solution. However, I'd ask you to entertain one small change: if there's the possibility of providing one sample of a 'bundle' of documents related to a single equivalence decision and that, in your view, is representative of the scope of the original request (how your institution has engaged with equivalence decisions; the procedural steps that have been taken prior to/in support of an equivalence decision being rendered; and, the time each step in the process to reach a decision took) that would be very much appreciated (and hopefully reduces the scope of the request enough).
Yours sincerely,
Pedro Carvalho
Dear Mr Carvalho,
Thank you very much for your response and for accepting the proposed fair solution.
We will discuss internally your suggested change and get back to you in due course.
With kind regards
Enrico Gagliardi
Dear Mr Carvalho,
Many thanks for your response and engagement in this process for a fair
solution. We would be pleased to have a call with you in the coming days
to put in place that solution.
To this end, we would like to propose next Wednesday (06 April) from 15.00
to 16.00 or, alternatively, from 16.00 to 17.00 as possible timeslots. If
those proposals do not suit you, please let us know which alternative
schedule would work. In addition, we would like to ask you to send us your
private email address so that we can send the invitation for the meeting.
We take good note of your interest in understanding better how the ESFS
regulators have engaged with equivalence decisions as well as withdrawal
of equivalence decisions, the procedural steps that have been taken prior
to this type of decisions being rendered and, the time each step in the
process to reach the said decisions takes. We also acknowledge your wish
to place the focus on a single equivalence decision and/or withdrawal of
equivalence decision that are representative of the scope of the original
request, and we bear in mind particularly the process/procedural aspects
and the timing aspects that are of interest to you.
Accordingly, in advance of the call, we think it is useful to direct you
to what we consider to be suitable representative decisions in the case of
ESMA, and to the publicly available documentation on those decisions. That
documentation is extensive in its scope and provides clear insight into
the processes followed in those cases. We would be able on our call to
give a further outline of process and timing considerations in relation to
these decisions to a substantial extent and trust that we can provide a
fair solution in this way.
Moreover and in the same vein, we would like to invite you to send, ahead
of the call, a list of possible questions you would like to ask. This
would allow us to focus on the issues you would be interested the most and
make the call more productive for you.
Against this background, please find below the links to the following
documentation for representative decisions for ESMA:
1. Equivalence decisionsà
[1]https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default...
1. Withdrawal of equivalence decisions à
[2]https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default...
Finally, kindly note that until the call is held the deadline for formally
responding to your Requests will be put on hold.
Yours sincerely
Enrico Gagliardi
Dear Enrico Gagliardi,
Firstly, let me apologise for the delay in responding. A family emergency occurred and I'm afraid I was unable to respond sooner. I'm very sorry for that.
Thank you very much for providing the bundle and the suggested date. Would you by any chance be available at some point on the week starting April 18th or April 25th? I'm happy to provide the list of questions as a reference ahead of the call. Is there a preferred e-mail I should send it to?
Regarding the invite, it could be sent to ps785 [at] cam [dot] ac [dot] uk.
Once again, thank you very much for your time.
Best regards,
Pedro