Press release on the finalization of the technical assistance project for national financial market regulators in Romania, Croatia, Poland and Malta to implement the Sustainable Finance Framework.

Bucharest, 24 September 2024 – The Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) participated, at the end of last week in Zagreb, in the event that marked the conclusion of a technical assistance project for national financial market regulators in four countries (Romania, Croatia, Poland and Malta), in order to implement the sustainable finance framework.

The project was carried out with funding from the European Union through the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) programme and in cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM).

The European Commission has set itself ambitious targets in the European Green Deal, including reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The green transition also means creating a modern and competitive European economy and positioning the continent well in a changing European economic context.

The non-bank financial market has a key role to play in this transition, by increasing transparency, preventing greenwashing and directing available resources to eligible economic activities.

The technical assistance project ensures the increase of the institutional capacity of ASF in the field of sustainable finance supervision, through the in-depth analysis of the European legislative framework, the identification of best practices existing at European level, the proposal of methods for data collection and analysis and the outlining of the on-site and off-site supervision framework. The project also organized workshops aimed at raising awareness among market participants.

As a subsidiary, the integration of sustainable finance principles into ongoing supervisory activities is intended to facilitate the early identification of risks that are considered relevant from a sustainability perspective and to enhance capital market resilience, while supporting the efforts of supervised entities to implement their own sustainability risk management policies in line with the new requirements.