The funds associations of Germany and France have jointly issued a position paper lending their backing to the implementation of the EU’s data platform while also asking for realism and readability in terms of data formats.

The position paper from the BVI and AFG was in response to the consultation called by ESMA on how the European Single Access Point (ESAP) platform should be implemented.

According to the two associations, the ESAP platform is an important step in improving the availability of financial and ESG data needed by EU-based fund managers to fulfil their regulatory reporting requirements.

The fact that much of that data is scattered across 27 countries, in different languages and different formats, makes it hard to compare or assess.

This difficulty has led to an over-reliance on data providers who take advantage of their oligopolistic position to raise prices, making it harder for smaller organisations to obtain the data.

“We therefore highly support the implementation of a one-stop-shop (ESAP),” stated the associations.

The associations have also insisted that the format of the platform must “remain realistic” and “should not lose readability”.

Furthermore, there should be clarification on whether and how a specific format will be required for a specific solution.

Any metadata should be used to promote consistency and any stakeholders should be identified via the legal entity identifier, or LEI system.

The BVI and AFG have also called for more transparency from the collection bodies undergoing the data validation processes.