Questions and Answers

ESMA offers a tool for questions on the practical application or implementation of EU law and/or ESMA acts (such as Technical Standards and/or Guidelines), and will develop such questions into Questions and Answers (Q&As).

If, however, your question is straightforward or includes a request for information, rather than the development of an answer on a new question on the application or implementation of EU law and/or ESMA acts, please direct your question to [email protected].

ESMA will aim to develop Q&As in relation to new questions relating to ESMA acts that:

• raise a new material issue with market impact and which could have a cross-border dimension within the EU Single Market;
• are relevant for a broad set of stakeholders; and
• where ESMA finds there is a need to provide guidance or clarification.

In case your question would require the interpretation of EU law, ESMA will forward your question to the European Commission to answer.

Before submitting a question in the Q&A tool please check among already existing Q&As to see if you find an answer to your question in the tool or in the documents.

If your question concerns a topic for which ESMA has a shared responsibility with the EBA and EIOPA, on the topics of PRIIPs, SFDR, EMIR and Securitisation, you may search the answer to a Q&A under the Joint Committee > Joint Q&As.

Though questions can be submitted in any official language of the EU, we would appreciate if your question is submitted in English, which is ESMA’s working language.

Please note that ESMA will only be able to provide answers to questions on policy that are of general interest for stakeholders across the EU.

Please note that ESMA will not develop an answer to questions that:

• Are unclear or incomplete;
• Are not related to EU law within ESMA’s remit (available in ESMA’s Interactive Single Rulebook, ISRB);
• Are not submitted in an official language of the EU;
• Seek ESMA advice on issues which only relate to the factual circumstances of an individual submitter which would not have any relevance to other stakeholders (i.e. specific practices, business models or products);
• Ask ESMA where to find information on a given topic within EU law and/or ESMA acts or to explain the provisions that are already clearly set out therein; and/or
• Relate to the national transposition or implementation of EU law, unless this relates to ESMA’s guidelines or peer reviews, for which ESMA publishes compliance tables and reports.

What happens after you have submitted a new question?

When your question is of wider relevance and raises a new policy issue, ESMA will liaise with national authorities. Providing an answer might then take up to six months.

In that case, the final answer will be sent to you, and made available on ESMA’s website, you will be informed that ESMA is not in a position to address the issue(s) raised, explaining the reasons why.

ESMA may decide to merge, or group together, similar questions received from different stakeholders and provide one answer.

Questions on which ESMA is already working

The Q&A IT tool provides an overview of the questions to which an answer is currently under development. Questions appear in the tool when ESMA starts actively preparing their answer or when they have been forwarded to the European Commission (for cases requiring the interpretation of EU law).

Though they are non-binding for market participants, answers to questions with wider relevance are being made public to help stakeholders. An overview of all Q&As per the legislative act issued by ESMA is available below. Publication of Q&As in the tool is ongoing.

It should be noted that only the Court of Justice of the European Union can provide a definitive interpretation of EU law.

Please note that these documents are not updated after 31 December 2023. For Q&As issued as of 1 January 2024, please search in the tool.