CNB changes approach to answering professional queries regarding the financial market

The CNB is changing its approach to answering the queries of professional financial market participants (“professional queries”). As of the start of July 2022, instead of the current practice of sending answers directly to individual enquirers, the CNB will typically answer these professional queries by publishing a general opinion (generalised answer) on its website. Answering the query will therefore be conditional on the enquirer’s consent to the possible publication of both the query and the answer.

The CNB will prioritise answering the professional queries of market participants’ associations (if they exist in the given sector), as they can be assumed to be of broader importance to financial market participants. Likewise, it will attach greater priority to the queries of individual financial market participants or their legal representatives if they are of similar general importance. In order to contribute to the single application of legally binding EU acts, the relevant queries which pertain to the interpretation of EU regulation will be sent for scrutiny to the relevant European Supervisory Authority, with the exception of cases where the interpretation is unambiguous. The CNB expects the queries of associations and individual financial market participants to be in line with the requirements for professional queries.

The new treatment of professional queries is motivated mainly by enhancing transparency as one of the principles underlying the CNB’s activities. Publishing the answers to all relevant professional queries will make the necessary information and guidelines available not only to the enquirers, but also to other financial market participants who rely on general interpretative opinions. At the same time, prioritising the answers will enable the CNB to better react to the steadily growing number of queries in recent years.

As part of financial market supervision, the CNB has long provided professional financial market participants with support in resolving unclear issues to facilitate compliance with the duties imposed on them by financial market regulations and to prevent violations of these rules. However, it wishes to point out that it is not the CNB’s task to replace the considerations of the financial market participants themselves or their legal and economic advisers.

Professional queries sent to the CNB by the end of June 2022 will be answered under the current conditions.

Markéta Fišerová
Director of the Communications Division and CNB Spokesperson