Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 2 2025

10 QUICK LINKS BENCHMARKS REGULATION CRYPTOASSETS DORA EMIR FSB MIFID II/MIFIR MMF SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG T+1 ASIA EUROPE INTERNATIONAL LUXEMBOURG NETHERLANDS NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 2 | 2025 Platform Publishes Draft Report on Activities and Technical Screening Criteria to be Updated or Included in the EU Taxonomy On 8 January 2025, the Platform on Sustainable Finance (the Platform) published a draft report on preliminary recommendations for the review of the Climate Delegated Act and the addition of activities to the EU taxonomy. The European Commission (EC) says that the draft report is a working document with preliminary recommendations on the technical screening criteria that do not represent a final view of the Platform, and that it is neither an official EC document nor an official EC position. The EC says that the draft report presents a set of recommendations for revision of technical screening criteria of activities included in the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and for addition of new activities to the EU taxonomy. Based on the resources, workload and time available, the EC says that the relevant Platform Working Group could not finalise its recommendations on all activities that were mandated by the EC. For these activities, the EC says that the Working Group included progress reports in the preliminary report. In this context , the EC says that it is important to note that the non-inclusion of an activity in the Working Group report does not imply that the activity will not be considered for inclusion in the EU taxonomy. The deadline for comments on the draft report was 5 February 2025. Link to Draft Report here T+1 ESMA Announces NewGovernance Structure for Transition to T+1 Settlement On 22 January 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Commission (EC) and the European Central bank (ECB) launched a new governance structure to support the transition to the T+1 settlement cycle in the European Union. Following ESMA’s report with recommendations on the shortening of the settlement cycle, ESMA says that the new governance structure has been designed to oversee and manage the operational, regulatory and technological aspects of this transition. And that, given the high level of interconnectedness within the EU capital market, a coordinated approach across the EU, involving authorities, market participants, financial market infrastructures and investors, is desirable. The key elements of the new governance model include: • An Industry Committee, composed of senior leaders and representatives frommarket players. • Several technical workstreams, operating under the Industry Committee, focusing on the technological operational adaptations needed in the areas concerned by the transition to T+1 (i.e. trading, matching, clearing, settlement, securities financing, funding and FX, asset management, corporate events, settlement efficiency). In addition, two more general workstreams will review the scope and the legal and regulatory aspects of these adaptations. • A Coordination Committee, chaired by ESMA and with representation from the EC, the ECB, ESMA and the chair of the Industry Committee. This committee will ensure coordination between the authorities and the industry, advising on challenges that may arise during the transition. ESMA has recommended 11 October of 2027 as the optimal date for the transition to T+1 in the EU. In its Report ESMA concluded that the transition to T+1 should be implemented in phases, with key milestones including technology upgrades, stakeholder engagement and regulatory alignment. The first meeting of the Coordination Committee took take on place on 6 February 2025. Link to ESMA Announcement here