LegalizeCommission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1159 of 11 March 2022 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for public disclosure of investment policy by investment firms (Text with EEA relevance)
Article 1
Disclosure principles
Information to be disclosed in accordance with this Regulation shall be subject to the following principles:
(a) Disclosures shall be subject to the same level of internal verification as that applicable to the management report included in the investment firm’s financial report.
(b) Disclosures shall be clear. They shall be presented in a form that is understandable to users of information and communicated through an accessible medium. Important messages shall be highlighted and easy to find. Complex issues shall be explained in simple language. Related information shall be presented together.
(c) Disclosures shall be meaningful and consistent over time to enable users of information to compare information across disclosure periods.
(d) Quantitative disclosures shall be accompanied by qualitative explanations and any other supplementary information that may be necessary in order for the users of that information to understand them, noting in particular any significant change in any given disclosure compared to the information contained in the previous disclosures.
Article 2
General specifications
Where disclosing information in accordance with this Regulation, investment firms shall ensure that the data are associated with the following information:
(a) disclosure reference date and reference period;
(b) name and identifier of the disclosing investment firm (a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) where available);
(c) where relevant, accounting standard; and
(d) where relevant, scope of consolidation.
Article 3
Disclosure of proportion of voting rights
Investment firms shall disclose the information referred to in Article 52(1), point (a) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 by using template IF IP1 of Annex I to this Regulation and by following the instructions set out in Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 4
Disclosure of voting behaviour
Investment firms shall disclose the information referred to in Article 52(1), point (b) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 as follows:
(a) the information on the voting behaviour by using table IF IP2.01 and template IF IP2.02 of Annex I to this Regulation and by following the instructions set out in Annex II to this Regulation;
(b) the information on the explanation of the votes by using table IF IP2.03 and template IF IP2.04 of Annex I to this Regulation and by following the instructions set out in Annex II to this Regulation;
(c) the information on the ratio of proposals which the investment firm has approved by using template IF IP2.05 of Annex I to this Regulation and by following the instructions set out in Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 5
Disclosure of explanation of the use of proxy advisor firms
Investment firms shall disclose the information referred to in Article 52(1), point (c) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 as follows:
(a) the information on the list of proxy advisor firms used by the investment firm by using table IF IP3.01 of Annex I to this Regulation and by following the instructions set out in Annex II to this Regulation;
(b) the information on the links with proxy advisor firms by using table IF IP3.02 of Annex I to this Regulation and by following the instructions set out in Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 6
Disclosure of voting guidelines
Investment firms shall disclose the information referred to in Article 52(1), point (d) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 by using template IF IP4 of Annex I to this Regulation and by following the instructions set out in Annex II to this Regulation.
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
ANNEX I
| INVESTMENT FIRMS DISCLOSURE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Template number | Template code | Name of the template | Legislative reference |
| INVESTMENT POLICY | |||
| 1 | IF IP1 | PROPORTION OF VOTING RIGHTS | Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 Art 52(1), point (a) |
| 2 | IF IP2 | VOTING BEHAVIOUR | Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 Art 52(1), point (b) |
| 3 | IF IP3 | PROXY ADVISOR FIRMS | Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 Art 52(1), point (c) |
| 4 | IF IP4 | VOTING GUIDELINES | Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 Art 52(1), point (d) |
| IF IP1 – TEMPLATE ON PROPORTION OF VOTING RIGHTS |
|---|
| Country | Economic sector | Company name | Company identifier | Proportion of voting rights attached to shares held directly or indirectly as set out in Article 52(2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | b | c | d | e |
Please insert additional rows as needed.
| IF IP2 – VOTING BEHAVIOUR |
|---|
| IF IP2.01 – TABLE ON THE DESCRIPTION OF VOTING BEHAVIOUR |
|---|
| Row | Item | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Number of relevant companies in the scope of disclosure | |
| 2 | Number of general meetings in the scope of disclosure during the past year | |
| 3 | Number of general meetings in the scope of disclosure in which the firm has voted during the past year | |
| 4 | Does the investment firm inform the company of negative votes prior to the general meeting? | |
| 5 | Proportion of in-person votes used by the firm | |
| 6 | Proportion of votes by mail or electronic vote used by the firm | |
| 7 | On a consolidated basis, does the investment firm group possess a policy regarding conflicts of interests between relevant entities of the group? | |
| 8 | If yes, summary of this policy |
| IF IP2.02 – TEMPLATE ON VOTING BEHAVIOUR |
|---|
| Row | Item | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General meetings resolutions: | ||
| 2 | the firm has approved | ||
| 3 | the firm has opposed | ||
| 4 | in which the firm has abstained | ||
| 5 | General meetings in which the firm has opposed at least one resolution |
| IF IP 2.03 – TABLE ON EXPLANATION OF THE VOTES |
|---|
| Row | Item | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Departments or roles in the investment firm that take part in deciding a voting position | |
| 2 | Description of the validation process for negative votes | |
| 3 | Number of full time equivalents used to analyse resolutions and examine voting records, excluding external resources such as proxy advisor firms | |
| 4 | Explanation of any material change in the rate of approval | |
| 5 | List of publicly available investment policy documents describing the investment firm’s objectives | |
| 6 | If relevant, certification of the firm’s investment policy |
| IF IP 2.04 – TEMPLATE ON VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN RESOLUTIONS BY THEME |
|---|
| Row | Item | Voted for | Voted against | Abstained | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Voted resolutions by theme during the past year: | ||||
| 2 | Board structure | ||||
| 3 | Executive remuneration | ||||
| 4 | Auditors | ||||
| 5 | Environment, social, ethics | ||||
| 6 | Capital transactions | ||||
| 7 | External resolutions | ||||
| 8 | Other |
| IF IP 2.05 – TEMPLATE ON THE RATIO OF APPROVED PROPOSALS |
|---|
| Row | Item | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Percentage of resolutions put forward by the administrative or management body that are approved by the firm | |
| 2 | Percentage of resolutions put forward by shareholders that are approved by the firm |
| IF IP3 – PROXY ADVISOR FIRMS |
|---|
| IF IP 3.01 – TABLE ON THE LIST OF PROXY ADVISOR FIRMS |
|---|
| Name of proxy advisor firm | Identifier of proxy advisor firm | Contract type | Investments associated with the proxy advisor firm | Themes of resolutions in which the proxy firm gave voting recommendations in the past year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | b | c | d | e |
Please insert additional rows as needed.
| IF IP 3.02 – TABLE ON THE LINKS WITH PROXY ADVISOR FIRMS |
|---|
| Name of proxy advisor firm | Identifier of proxy advisor firm | Relevant undertakings with which the proxy advisor firm has links | Type of link | If relevant, policy regarding conflicts of interests with the proxy advisor firm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | b | c | d | e |
| IF IP4 – TABLE ON VOTING GUIDELINES |
|---|
| Voting guidelines regarding the companies the shares of which are held in accordance with Art. 52(2): short general summary and, if needed, links to non-confidential documents |
|---|
| a |
ANNEX II
1.1. PART I: GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
1.1 Structure
This annex provides instructions for the disclosure templates and tables included in Annex I as regards:
— proportion of voting rights;
— voting behaviour;
— proxy advisor firms;
— voting guidelines.
1.2 Prudential consolidation
The scope of consolidation of an investment firms group is described in more detail in the draft RTS on prudential consolidation under Article 7(5) Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 (1). Investment firm groups shall use this prudential scope to fulfil the disclosure requirements, and not the scope of accounting consolidation.
1.2. PART II: INSTRUCTIONS RELATED TO TEMPLATES AND TABLES
The requirement of investment policy disclosure shall be fulfilled using both templates and tables. Templates contain quantitative information while tables contain qualitative information.
1. IF IP1 – PROPORTION OF VOTING RIGHTS
Article 52 (1), point (a) Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 requires a disclosure of the proportion of voting rights attached to shares held directly or indirectly, broken down by Member State and sector, considering only relevant companies as set out in Article 52(2). In the related template, each company is linked to a relevant country and an economic sector according to the drop-down list provided in the template, where the proportion of voting rights that the investment firm directly or indirectly holds exceeds the threshold of 5 % of all voting rights attached to the shares issued by the company.
Investment firms shall disclose the proportion of voting rights attached to the shares held indirectly by their subsidiaries or other undertakings, where the investment firms exercise significant influence or control over the subsidiaries or other undertakings, or where close links exist.
| Column | Legal references and instructions |
|---|---|
| a | Country Article 52(1), point (a) Regulation (EU) 2019/2033. Proportion of voting rights shall be broken down by Member State, based on the residence of the investee company. |
| b | Economic sector Article 52(1), point (a) Regulation (EU) 2019/2033. Proportion of voting rights shall be broken down by sector. The list of economic sectors provided in the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations framework (ESCO), which consists of 27 sectors, shall be used. These sectors are mapped to NACE codes, as presented in the table (1) on the European Commission website. |
| c | Company name Name of the company in which shares are held. |
| d | Identifier of the company Identifier of the company in which shares are held, a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). Investment firms shall report in this field the LEI code in all the cases where it is available. |
| e | Proportion of voting rights attached to shares held directly or indirectly as set out in Article 52(2) Article 52(2) Regulation (EU) 2019/2033. Percentage between 5 % (excluded) and 100 %. Relevant companies for the purpose of this template shall be those whose shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market. Only shares to which voting rights are attached shall be considered. The disclosure is required when the proportion of voting rights that the investment firm directly or indirectly holds exceeds the threshold of 5 % of all voting rights attached to the shares issued by the company. Voting rights shall be calculated on the basis of all shares to which voting rights are attached, even if the exercise of those voting rights is suspended. The shares in the scope of this disclosure may be held directly or indirectly. The ‘shares held directly’ are shares held on the investment firm’s own account that are part of its own funds.The ‘shares held indirectly’ are shares held by a subsidiary of the investment firm, or by any other undertaking over which the investment firm exercises a significant influence either by virtue of a formal agreement or any other business relation. They also include shares under the investment firm’s management on behalf of clients, unless voting rights are retained by shareholders by virtue of a contractual arrangement prohibiting the investment firm to vote on their behalf. |
| (1) Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1). |
2. IF IP2 – VOTING BEHAVIOUR
Article 52 (1), point (b) Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 requires a disclosure of three elements:
(a) a complete description of voting behaviour in the general meetings of companies the shares of which are held in accordance with Article 52(2);
(b) an explanation of the votes;
(c) the ratio of proposals which the investment firm has approved.
Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published in the Official Journal of the European Union. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original to this format.