ESA files a lawsuit against Iceland

The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) has decided to refer a case against Iceland to the EFTA Court, as Iceland has not implemented four regulations in the field of financial services into national law.

This is stated in an announcement from ESA, which states that Iceland should implement these four regulations into national law by March 2023.

"ESA's role is to ensure that the competitive conditions in financial services are comparable throughout the EEA region. ESA sent a formal reminder letter regarding the regulations to Iceland in May 2023 and a reasoned opinion in February 2024, followed by informal communications. ESA has not received any information indicating that the regulations have been brought into national law," says the announcement.

It is stated that the EEA acts which have yet to be implemented cover different aspects of financial services, including risk management processes, trading register registration, position establishment obligations, and derivatives.

It also says that the referral of cases to the EFTA Court is the final step in ESA's formal breach of contract case against a member state and that the EFTA Court will now rule on the cases.