ESMA Guidelines on ESG or sustainability-related fund names - Guide on comply or explain statements of national regulators

By 21 October, all EU national regulators had to declare to the European securities regulator ESMA if they intended to comply with ESMA's new "Guidelines on funds' names using ESG or sustainability-related terms". These were originally published on 14 May 2024 and translated into all EU languages on 21 August 2024. The ESMA Guidelines will apply from 21 November 2024 for new funds and from 21 May 2025 for existing funds.

Due to their nature as non-binding guidance issued by ESMA, national regulators can chose to comply with the ESMA Guidelines or explain that they do comply with the ESMA Guidelines entirely or in part. Although the deadline for these "comply or explain" statements has already passed, some national regulators have not yet published their statements. Others have declared to comply but called for additional clarifications or shared their own interpretation of certain concepts under the ESMA Guidelines. On 13 December 2024 ESMA has published guidance on certain provisions of the ESMA Guidelines (more information available here).

Our National Regulator Compliance Guide contains an overview of the currently available "comply or explain" statements and of additional comments or interpretations published by national regulators of the EU member states.

This is the 7th update of our National Regulator Compliance Guide since its first creation on 6 November 2024 representing the status of 3 March 2025.

Read the full guide

Following the publication of the ESMA compliance table on 19 March 2025, this guide has been updated and re-published. You can access the guide here.