EBA publishes final draft RTS on investment policy disclosure

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today new regulatory technical standards (RTS) on disclosure of investment policy by investment firms.

The final draft RTS provides for:

• specified information that investment firms must disclose which show their influence over the companies in which they hold voting rights; and
• comparable disclosures and detailed instructions on investment firms’ voting rights, voting guidelines (including, where relevant, a breakdown by geographical zone, economic sector or topic of the resolution being voted), and voting behaviour.

The RTS also include information on the use of proxy advisory firms that helps address uncertainties about potential conflicts of interest.

These disclosure requirements under the RTS apply to:

• class 2 investment firms with total assets above EUR 100 million;
• shares held by the investment firm in companies admitted to trading on a regulated market; and
• the proportion of voting rights held by the investment firm exceeds 5 % of all voting rights issued by the company.