In the first half of March, the Republic of Bulgaria adopted an Act amending and supplementing the Public Offering of Securities Act. These amendments mark the beginning of the implementation of the European rules related to the establishment of the European Single Access Point (ESAP)This will be a centralized system through which citizens, businesses, and institutions will have easy and direct access to a wide range of public information related to financial services, capital markets, and sustainable development.
1. What necessitates the change?
The European Union has adopted new rules aimed at establishing a pan European platform for access to important financial information. In order to implement these rules domestically, the national legislation must be adapted.
This process introduces the requirements of two new European acts:
- Directive (EU) 2023/2864, which amends existing directives to facilitate the creation and operation of ESAP;
- Regulation (EU) 2023/2869, which amends already applicable regulations with the aim of harmonising the European information access framework.
2. What is ESAP and why is it important?
The establishment of ESAP aims to bring together in one place a large volume of information that companies and other financial market participants are already required to disclose. This includes:
- financial statements and results;
- information on environmental and social policies;
- data on corporate governance;
- prospectuses and key information documents;
- documents related to investment products, including retail and insurance based products.
At present, this information is dispersed across various institutions and registers. ESAP will enable it to be found quickly, easily, and in one single place, thereby improving transparency and facilitating investors, citizens, and businesses.
3. When will the European system become operational?
Regulation (EU) 2023/2859 officially marks the beginning of the development of ESAP.
According to the Regulation, as of 10 July 2027, the system must provide centralized and accessible information for all persons, where such information is required under EU law to be publicly available.
This means that after this date, any interested party – whether an investor, consumer, journalist, or researcher – will be able to find important data on financial products, companies, and markets through a single pan European platform.