Consob Notice of 20 January 2022

Notice regarding the ESMA Guidelines on methodology, oversight function and record keeping, pursuant to the regulation on indices used as benchmarks issued by ESMA pursuant to article no. 40 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011

On 7 December 2021, ESMA published on its website, in all the official languages of the Union, the "Guidelines on methodology, oversight function and record keeping under the Benchmarks Regulation" (so-called "Guidelines"), issued pursuant to article no. 16 of Regulation (EU) no. 1095/2010. The Guidelines are also available in the Italian version on the Consob institutional website.

The Guidelines are intended to ensure common, uniform and consistent application, as regards the application of the provisions in the BMR Regulation governing the possibility of using an alternative methodology for calculating one benchmark in unusual circumstances. In particular, the Guidelines contain some explanations - relating to the details to be specified in the context of the methodology to be used for benchmark calculation in unusual circumstances and to the consultation procedure to be followed in the case of proposals for significant changes to the methodology - which should allow users to better evaluate the characteristics of the benchmarks used or which they intend to use.

Consob, in compliance with paragraph no. 3 of the aforementioned article no. 16 of the ESMA Regulation, has communicated to the European Authority its intention to comply with the said guidelines as they become applicable in Italy.

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona