End of last year marked the entry into force of the Better Data Sharing Regulation (‘the Regulation’), a significant step towards facilitating data sharing and reuse by authorities and reducing duplicative and redundant reporting by industry
Essentially, the Regulation mandates the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), the Single Resolution Board (SRB), the Anti‑Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) and the European Central Bank (ECB) – single supervisory mechanism to share data with national and European authorities that have the right to collect the same data under EU law, thereby reducing duplicate reporting. EU‑level authorities must not only actively share information they have collected, but they must also request such data from other authorities in case one of them has already obtained it, rather than requesting the data again from reporting entities. This aims to ensure that supervisory data collected under EU law is reported only once and subsequently reused by authorities (including cleaned and processed data). Unfortunately, contrary to what was proposed by the Commission, relevant national authorities were left outside the scope of obligatory sharing. Therefore, any data sharing by them, apart from what is already mandated in sectoral legislation, remains voluntary
National and EU authorities may also share supervisory data, at their discretion, with financial institutions, researchers and other entities for research and innovation purposes, if the data is anonymised, treated and protected appropriately
The Regulation also requires that the ESAs establish a permanent single contact point for reporting entities to address duplicative, redundant, or outdated reporting and disclosure requirements. They are moreover now obliged to regularly review reporting requirements to enhance their consistency and efficiency and eliminate outdated and redundant ones
In the longer term, the Regulation envisages a much more ambitious cross‑sectoral integrated reporting system that would combine data standardisation and data sharing to significantly enhance the efficiency of supervisory data collection. Implementation of the system will build on sectoral integration and be subject to feasibility and cost‑benefit analysis
This initiative shows the Commission’s commitment to efficient regulation and burden reduction. It is also part of the wider simplification agenda and, more specifically, the ongoing work to implement the Commission’s strategy on supervisory data in EU financial services, which concluded that collected data need to be more efficiently shared and reused among authorities
Implementing the strategy began with significant improvements introduced in sectoral legislation. It resulted in, for example, enhanced information sharing on derivatives transactions (EMIR 3.0), improved data sharing between the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and relevant EU and national authorities (AIFMD/UCITS), or reuse of supervisory data to prepare and publish disclosures for small, non‑complex banks (2023 banking package). Additional improvements are in development, including integrated funds reporting, integrated transactions reporting, and integrated reporting in the insurance sector
The ECB joined the Commission’s effort to improve data sharing, resulting in a recent revision of the Council Regulation concerning the ECB’s collection of statistical information, which took effect on 12 March. It will enable ESAs and other authorities to access confidential statistical data collected by the European System of Central Banks, including notably AnaCredit, the Central Securities Database, and Securities Holding Statistics
These legislative initiatives not only facilitate the practical implementation of data‑sharing arrangements but also prompt the deployment of the necessary technical infrastructure. The ESAs and other authorities are actively enhancing their roles as (supervisory and statistical) data hubs
Together, these measures support the Commission’s broader efforts to simplify reporting and reduce the reporting burden. By advancing the ‘report once’ approach they maximise usefulness of the data, improve oversight of the financial system, and foster supervisory convergence
Moving further towards a modern, growth‑friendly reporting system in the EU financial services requires continued buy‑in from many stakeholders including the EU co‑legislators and the EU authorities. The Commission cannot reach this goal alone
Related links
Supervisory data collection
European system of financial supervision
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