05 Oct CNMV launches fast track to transform traditional funds into sustainable funds and register sustainability related schedules

In a statement published on 4 October 2022, the Spanish Securities and Exchange Commission («CNMV») summarised the regulatory developments applicable to fund managers from 2023 onwards.

In this statement, the supervisor reports on the implementation of a simplified procedure for the registration of the so called «sustainability annex». This document must accompany the fund prospectus as part of the pre-contractual information that customers must receive.

The aim of this fast-track procedure is to facilitate compliance with the new disclosure obligations – which provide for standardised «templates» of pre-contractual and periodic information – of the delegated regulation1 implementing the disclosure regulation.

As of 1 January 2023, «sustainable» collective investment undertakings (CIIs) according to the disclosure regulation must prepare and register with the CNMV a sustainability annex according to the rules and templates of the above-mentioned delegated regulation.

These templates considerably expand the information that CIIs must publish on their management strategies and how they promote environmental or social features or pursue sustainable investment objectives. This may even have an impact on their current investment policy.

According to the supervisor, in order to try to facilitate this task for fund managers, it has put in place a simplified procedure for registering this annex.

Scope of the procedure

The procedure is aimed at funds that comply with Articles 8 or 9 of the disclosure regulation, i.e. that promote environmental or social features, or that target sustainable investments, and funds not registered under either of these categories that wish to qualify as complying with one of these two articles.

It is based on a self-declaration by management companies, which will be different depending on the following:

• CIIs complying with Article 8 or 9 whose annex does not change the information in the prospectus, or
• CIIs which do not comply with these articles, or which, being registered in these categories, their schedule does amend the information in the prospectus.

The CNMV has also published the forms to be used to make this declaration in either of the two cases mentioned above.

Content of the declaration

A) For CIIs which are already registered as sustainable and whose sustainability annex does not modify the information currently included in their prospectus, the declaration includes the following statements:

• That they have sent to the CNMV the sustainability annexes of the funds listed in the declaration.
• These comply with the disclosure regulation, its delegated regulation, the taxonomy regulation and the criteria of the European authorities and the CNMV, and have been checked by the fund manager prior to submission.
• The sustainability annex does not contradict the information disclosed on the website and corresponds to the strategy, investment policy and other characteristics to be implemented by the CIIs.

This document is a true copy of the template of Annex II or III of the delegated regulation.

B) For CIIs which are not registered as sustainable or whose annex does modify the information in the prospectus, the content of the declaration is similar except for the following statement:

Whether or not the information contained in the annex determines the obligation to grant information or separation rights to the unit-holders or shareholders of the CIIs, as determined by the regulations applicable to CIIs (i.e. depending on whether or not the investment policy is substantially modified).