Article 54
Requests for information
ESMA may, by simple request or by a decision, require the following persons to provide all information that is necessary to carry out its duties under this Regulation:
persons who effectively conduct the business of the external reviewer;
members of the supervisory, management or administrative bodies of the external reviewer;
members of the senior management of the external reviewer;
any person directly involved in assessment activities of the external reviewer;
legal representatives and employees of entities to which an external reviewer has outsourced certain functions in accordance with Article 33;
persons otherwise closely and substantially related or connected to the process of managing the external reviewer, including shareholders holding at least 10 % of the capital or the voting rights of the external reviewer or in a company which has the power to exercise control or a dominant influence over the external reviewer;
anyone who acts as, or purports to be, an external reviewer, without being registered as such, and any person that performs any of the functions referred to in points (a) to (f) on behalf of such a person.
When sending a simple request for information under paragraph 1, ESMA shall:
refer to this Article as the legal basis of that request;
state the purpose of the request;
specify what information is required;
set a time limit within which the information is to be provided;
inform the person from whom the information is requested that there is no obligation to provide the information but that, in the case of a voluntary reply to the request, the information provided is required to be correct and not misleading; and
indicate the potential fine provided for in Article 60 where the answers to the questions asked are incorrect or misleading.
When requiring the provision of information by decision under paragraph 1, ESMA shall:
refer to this Article as the legal basis of that request;
state the purpose of the request;
specify what information is required;
set a time limit within which the information is to be provided;
indicate the periodic penalty payments provided for in Article 61 where the production of the required information is incomplete;
indicate the fine provided for in Article 60 where the answers to questions asked are incorrect or misleading;
indicate the right to appeal the decision before the Board of Appeal in accordance with Articles 58 and 59 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 and to have the decision reviewed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘Court of Justice’) in accordance with Articles 60 and 61 of that Regulation.