World Savings and Retail Banking Institute joins European Commission simplification talks and presses for streamlined sustainability reporting and due diligence rules

The World Savings and Retail Banking Institute reported that ESBG and CaixaBank participated in the European Commission’s kick-off event on simplification convened by Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, using the forum to call for further streamlining of existing obligations and requirements. ESBG highlighted rising compliance costs linked to sustainability reporting requirements, including those stemming from the Taxonomy and CSRD, and flagged legal uncertainty created by inconsistent requirements such as transition plan expectations. Participants discussed practical steps such as stronger impact assessments, more time to implement new legislation, and limiting the proliferation of “soft law” that becomes de facto binding. ESBG also raised concerns about the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), citing the difficulty of monitoring an entire value chain and potential civil liability implications, and argued that the specific nature of financial services should be reflected to avoid disruption to financing, with further expansion of the directive’s scope to the financial sector avoided. The Commission acknowledged that the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) criteria and calculation bias in the Green Asset Ratio (GAR) need review, and appeared to support halting the preparation of sector-specific CSRD standards by EFRAG while recognising concerns about including financial institutions’ downstream value chain in reporting. ESBG is finalising a position paper to be presented to Commissioners Dombrovskis and Albuquerque.