In a letter dated 8 July 2021, the European Commission’s Director-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union confirmed that the date of application of the regulatory technical standards (RTS) under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation² (SFDR) will be deferred by six months. Rather than applying on 1 January 2022, the RTS will now apply from 1 July 2022.

In the letter, the Director General noted he had already advised that the draft RTS under Articles 2a(3), 4(6) and (7), 8(3), 9(5), 10(2) and 11(4) of the SFDR could not be adopted by the Commission within the three-month period, given their length and technical detail.

He also noted that EIOPA, ESMA and the EBA are currently preparing an additional six draft RTS based on Articles 8(4), 9(6) and 11(5) of the SFDR – the deadline for submission (1 June 2021) has already passed – yet certain provisions of the RTS are stated to apply from 1 January 2022. In addition, these as yet unpublished draft RTS are likely to further amend the draft RTS dated 4 February 2021.

The letter recognises the need for the Commission to take steps to facilitate the smooth implementation of the RTS and, therefore, the Commission plans to bundle all 13 of the RTS into a single delegated act and defer the dates of application by six months to 1 July 2022.

Footnotes

1) Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector (SFDR), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2020/852 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment (Taxonomy Regulation).