The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) has published its annual report for 2016. On the occasion of the presentation of the annual report, the FSMA set out the various forms of action it can take and how it applies them. Since the establishment of the new Sanctions Committee in 2012, the FSMA has imposed a total of 36 administrative sanctions.
For the 2016 annual report, the FSMA has adopted a new format. The report is no longer structured purely as a report on activities, but as a tool of communication that presents the FSMA's work and approach. The report is written for non-specialists as well, is organized thematically and makes use of graphics (sidebars, pictograms, colours, photos, etc.) in order to make the report more readable.
The new approach to the annual report reflects the emphasis that the FSMA places on communication as a tool of effective supervision. Providing clear information about the relevant legislation and about the expectations of the supervisor in itself has an impact on the conduct of market players and gives rise to changes on the ground. Doing so also has a preventive aspect, intended to contribute to averting behaviour that may have harmful effects.
In recent years, the FSMA has therefore intensified its communications, including via the publication of newsletters for intermediaries, press releases announcing and explaining administrative sanctions, reports on the results of sectoral studies, etc. The FSMA will henceforth publish its legal positions (jurisprudence) immediately on its website, instead of gathering them together once a year in the annual report.
In addition to its communicative tasks, the FSMA also intervenes actively on the ground when needed. In 2016, the FSMA intervened almost 500 times in very concrete ways, for example by suspending trade in a share, deleting or suspending the registration of intermediaries, warning against illegal offers, ordering that certain shortcomings be remedied, etc.
The FSMA also pursues an active sanctions policy. Since the establishment of the new Sanctions Committee in mid-2012, the FSMA has imposed 36 administrative sanctions, on 55 persons. The total monetary value of the sanctions is 14.6 million euros.
In recent years, the sanctions have tended to be applied more to infringements of legislation other than that governing market abuse (insider dealing, price manipulation, etc.). Infringements against advertising rules, anti-money laundering legislation and the prospectus law have also been punished with an administrative sanction. The FSMA will continue to roll out its sanctions policy in these and other domains. The FSMA's Sanctions Committee will henceforth also be able to rule on cases involving the professional ethics of statutory auditors.
The FSMA also supervises access to the sector by registering or authorizing persons who fulfil all the requirements. Recently, the number of different statuses supervised by the FSMA was further expanded to include, among others, crowdfunding platforms and credit providers.
The annual report (in full in French or Dutch) is available on the website of the FSMA.