LuxSE OAM - ESAP FAQ
1. Do ESAP changes apply to all issuers registered with an OAM?
Storage of regulated information within the Officially Appointed Mechanism (OAM) will be subject to the new ESAP rules.
2. What is the definition of 'regulated information'?
Regulated information is defined by the Transparency Directive1 (TD) and by the Transparency Law2 (TL). The categorisation of the information required by ESAP under TD/TL3 is defined4 as indicated below:
| Classification of regulated information | Transparency Directive (TD) | Transparency Law (TL) |
|---|---|---|
| Periodic regulated information | ||
| Annual financial report(*) | TD, Art. 4 | TL, Art. 3 |
| Management report, including sustainability statement(**) | TD, Art. 4(2)(b), Art. 4(5) | TL, Art. 3(2)(b), Art. 3(5) |
| Half-yearly financial report(*) | TD, Art. 5 | TL, Art. 4 |
| Payments to governments | TD, Art. 6 | TL, Art. 5 |
| Ongoing regulated information | ||
| Inside information |
TD, Article 2(1)(k) MAR, Art. 17(1) |
TL, Art. 1(1)(10) MAR, Art. 17(1) |
| Managers' transaction |
TD, Article 2(1)(k) MAR, Art. 19 |
TL, Art. 1(1)(10) MAR, Art. 19 |
| Major shareholdings notification | TD, Art. 12 | TL, Art. 11 |
| Acquisition or disposal of an issuer’s own shares | TD, Art. 14 | TL, Art. 13 |
| Total number of voting rights and capital | TD, Art. 15 | TL, Art. 14 |
| Changes in the rights attaching to shares or securities other than shares | TD, Art. 16 | TL, Art. 15 |
| Home Member State | TD, Art. 2(1)(i) | TL, Art. 1(1)(9) |
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1 Article 2(1)(k), TD.
2 Article 1(1)(10), TL.
3 Article 23a(1)(b)(v), TD. Article 20-1(1)(b)(v), TL.
4 As defined by RTS (EU) 2016/1437, as amended by ESAP ITS (EU) 2025/1338.
(*) Issuers exempted by TD Art. 8 (TL Art. 7) may still store financial reports under specific conditions (q.v.).
(**) Subcategorisation of the annual financial report introduced by ESAP.
3. What file format requirements apply under ESAP?
Data-extractable means that the information is provided in a format that allows the data to be easily copied or exported without manual retyping. E.g. a document in PDF format must not be a scanned PDF document and a document in XHTML format must not be a series of pictures of pages of another document.
Machine-readable means that the information is provided in a structured format that can be automatically processed by software without conversion. In the context of the Transparency Directive/Transparency Law, this requirement is applicable only to annual financial reports containing XBRL tagging, meaning that they must comply with the Inline XBRL standard and the ESEF taxonomy.
4. What are the changes to OAM storage following the entry into force of the ESAP rules?
Regulated information disclosed on 10 July 2026 or after and submitted to the OAM will be subject to the following requirements:
The user filing the information will have to provide the following data:
- The size of the issuer5.
- The industry sector of its economic activities6.
- Indication of whether the submitted information contains personal data.
Moreover, ESAP will require OAM users to organise information into structured categories (please refer to Q2, above) which cover both financial and non-financial (sustainability) data.
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5 Article 3, Accounting Directive.
6 Article 5, Regulation (EU) 2025/1338.
7 As required by ESMA.
5. Do I have to add additional data in my documents or provide additional data in a separate document?
No, the additional data required by ESAP (identification, size & industry sectors of the issuer, classification of the type of information and indication of personal data) will be included directly in the web app FIRST as input area. There is no need to add the metadata in the filed document or in a separate document.
For OAM storage purposes, the data points mentioned above are provided during the LuxSE OAM onboarding phase. However, the size of the issuer and industry sectors can be changed by the user when making any kind of submission requests. This makes it possible for the user to notify LuxSE of changes in the issuer’s size and/or sectors of activity in the context of subsequent submissions, or alternatively, inform LuxSE separately from a submission request.
6. What are the checks performed by the OAM on the information submitted?
The OAM will perform the following automated checks on the information submitted:
- The document submitted must be drawn up in a format that is data extractable (not a scanned document) or machine readable (compliant with iXBRL and the ESEF taxonomy);
- The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) code of the issuer must be valid and consistent with the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) register;
- If the LEI code of the shareholder is provided (not mandatory), the LEI code must be valid and consistent with the GLEIF register.
7. Will I still be able to submit the information in the same format as in previous years?
However, the ESAP framework imposes that the information should be submitted in a data extractable format (as a new rule) or, where appropriate, in a machine-readable format (already required by the ESEF Regulation). This rule will now be enforced by the OAM.
In addition, the OAM will perform the checks described in the dedicated question above.
8. I am subject to the ESEF regulation but not to the iXBRL, what is changing in my case?
Any issuer that must disclose its annual financial reports under TD/TL is subject to the ESEF Regulation. This means that the entire annual financial reports of the issuer must be in XHTML format8. The ESAP framework does not change the obligation to use, or not, Inline XBRL. This obligation depends only on the content of the report as defined by the ESEF Regulation.
If the document does not contain any XBRL tagging, it must be a simple XHTML document. Under the new ESAP rules, the OAM will have the obligation to check that a simple XHTML document is data extractable (i.e. not a series of pictures).
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8 Article 3, ESEF Regulation.
9. I would like to disclose preliminary results of my annual financial reports, how am I impacted by ESAP?
- The preliminary results are submitted in PDF format (no change here). If the preliminary results qualify as inside information under MAR, then that information qualifies as regulated information, and it must be submitted to the OAM9, under the "inside information" category.
- If the preliminary results do not qualify as inside information under MAR, then the information can be stored in the OAM as a submission on a voluntary basis.
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9 Article 17, MAR.
10. I am exempted from the obligation of disclosure of my annual financial reports, how am I impacted by ESAP?
Such an exempted issuer can still submit its annual financial reports to the OAM according to the following rules:
- As an exempted issuer, there is no obligation to comply with the ESEF Regulation, meaning that annual financial reports can be submitted in PDF format (no change compared to previous requirements).
- If the annual report qualifies as inside information under MAR, then the information qualifies as regulated information and must be submitted to the OAM11.
- An exempted issuer that submits its annual financial report as a regulated information will have to confirm that the information also qualifies as inside information (new rule!).
If the annual report does not qualify as inside information under MAR, then, as an exempted issuer, the information is not regulated information and can be stored in the OAM as a submission on a voluntary basis.
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10 Article 8, TD. Article 7, TL.
11 Article 17, MAR.
11. I am exempted from the obligation of disclosure of my half-yearly financial reports, how am I impacted by ESAP?
Such an exempted issuer can still submit its half-yearly financial reports to the OAM according to the following rules:
- If the half-yearly report qualifies as inside information under MAR, then the information qualifies as regulated information that must be submitted to the OAM13.
- An exempted issuer that submits its half-yearly financial report as regulated information will have to confirm that the information also qualifies as inside information (new rule!).
If the half-yearly report does not qualify as inside information under MAR, then, as an exempted issuer, the information is not regulated information and can be stored in the OAM as a submission on a voluntary basis.
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12 Article 8, TD. Article 7, TL.
13 Article 17, MAR.
12. I would like to disclose my quarterly financial report, how am I impacted by ESAP?
- If the quarterly report qualifies as inside information under MAR, then the information qualifies as regulated information that must be submitted to the OAM14.
- An issuer that submits its quarterly financial report as regulated information will have to confirm that the information also qualifies as inside information.
If the quarterly report does not qualify as inside information under MAR, then the information is not a regulated information and can be stored in the OAM as a submission on a voluntary basis.
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14 Article 17, MAR.
13. What is the difference between information submitted in compliance with Transparency-related obligations and information submitted on a voluntary basis?
Information submitted to the OAM in compliance with Transparency-related disclosure obligations is considered as regulated information.
This regulated information must, and will be, transmitted to the ESAP portal by the OAM and is therefore subject to the new ESAP rules.
Information submitted on a voluntary basis:
Information stored in the OAM that is not subject to any Transparency-related disclosure obligations is submitted on a voluntary basis.
Such information submitted on a voluntary basis is not transmitted to the ESAP portal and therefore not subject to the full set of new ESAP rules.
The ESAP framework foresees that, as of 10 January 2030, it will be possible (although not mandatory) for issuers to make information accessible on the ESAP portal on a voluntary basis.
14. What happens if the information submitted does not comply with the new ESAP rules?
In practice, this means that the user will not be able to complete the submission of its information (using FIRST) if one or more of the necessary checks and rules are not properly complied with. The web app FIRST will show a message describing the reason why the submission was rejected. If the user concerned does not agree with the negative result of the automated check, he or she can contact LuxSE’s OAM customer support team at oam@luxse.com to explain why, in their view, the submission is actually compliant. Considering that there is no universal definition of “data extractable”, it is possible for automated checks to render false negatives. This possibility is foreseen within our system and there are safeguards in place to address this risk accordingly.
Additional references and useful links
