ESMA's Christmas Present: a Consultation on the Disclosure Templates

With the markets pretty much gone for the festive break, ESMA gave the markets an unexpected Christmas gift: it published today the much-awaited public consultation on the overhaul of Securitisation Regulation's disclosure templates.

To be commended, ESMA's consultation showed no lack of ambition, in that it opens potentially wide vistas of change rather than limiting itself to tweaks.

ESMA seeks feedback on four possible ways forward, ranked from minimal to most extensive:

• Delay template review until Level 1 text changes
• Keep the current framework with a few tweaks
• Streamline existing templates for public deals and developing a dedicated template for private transactions
• A full-blown template overhaul with the aim for a fundamentally simpler framework

The deadline for response is the 15 March 2024.