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The Malta Financial Services Authority has issued a Circular titled: Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation - Application of Article 17(1) of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
As at 10 March 2021, Financial Market Participants and Financial Advisers, as defined in the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation are required to disclose information with regards to the integration of sustainability in their investment decision-making process or their investment or insurance advice, the consideration of adverse sustainability impacts in their processes and to provide sustainability-related information with respect to financial products.
Background Article 17(1) of the SFDR exempts insurance intermediaries which provide insurance advice with regard to IBIPs and investment firms which provide investment advice that are enterprises irrespective of their legal form, including natural persons and self-employed persons, provided that they employ fewer than three persons. Article 17(2) of the SFDR then provides Member States with the discretion to apply the requirements of SFDR to such entities. To this end, the Circular seeks to inform Financial Market Participants and Financial Advisors of the under Article 17(2) of the SFDR.
The Authority, as the Maltese competent authority in terms of the SFDR, will not take the option to apply the SFDR provisions to insurance intermediaries and investment firms which employ fewer than three persons as outlined above. As a result, the SFDR shall not apply to such insurance intermediaries which provide insurance advice with regard to IBIPs and to investment firms that provide investment advice.
The circular can be accessed here.
