Consultation Paper for Guidelines on Endorsement under Article 11 of the ESG Rating Regulation
Reasons for publication
The ESG Rating Regulation entered into force on 3 January 2025 and will apply from 2 July 2026. It is from this date that entities will have one month to notify ESMA of their intention to apply for authorisation, registration or recognition under the Regulation. For those entities that apply for authorisation there is the possibility to also apply to endorse ESG ratings from a legal entity established outside of the European Union. The requirements to endorse are set out in Article 11(1) and 11(2) of the ESG Rating Regulation.
The purpose of these Guidelines is to complement these legal requirements with guidance on the type of documentation that ESMA expects to be provided by applicants as part of their application to endorse, in addition to guidance on the processes that ESMA would expect to be demonstrated after authorisation to endorse has been granted.
Contents
This Consultation Paper is split into two parts; information requirements, and ongoing requirements. For each section respondents are invited to provide their view on the appropriateness of the proposed guidance.
Publication of responses
All contributions received will be published following the close of the consultation, unless you request otherwise. Please clearly and prominently indicate in your submission any part you do not wish to be publicly disclosed. A standard confidentiality statement in an email message will not be treated as a request for non-disclosure. A confidential response may be requested from us in accordance with ESMA’s rules on access to documents. We may consult you if we receive such a request. Any decision we make not to disclose the response is reviewable by ESMA’s Board of Appeal and the European Ombudsman.
Data protection
Personal data contained in the file will be published as submitted. If you don't wish such personal data to be publicly available, you should not include personal data within the document you upload to a public consultation. Alternatively, you may choose the option to not have your response published on the ESMA website. For further details on data processing, please refer to the record register.
Information on data protection can be found in the Legal Notice and Data Protection section.
Next Steps
Following a 4-week period of consultation, ESMA will finalise the Guidelines and publish the Final Report on its website. The Guidelines will then be published on ESMA’s website and should be used by applicants to inform their applications for authorisation.