►M6
Where, in carrying out its duties under this Regulation, ESMA finds that there are serious indications of the possible existence of facts liable to constitute one or more of the infringements listed in Article 42(1), point (a), or of a failure to cooperate or comply in an investigation or with an inspection or request covered by Section 1 of Chapter 4, ESMA shall appoint an independent investigation officer within ESMA to investigate the matter.
◄ The appointed officer shall not be involved or have been directly or indirectly involved in the supervision of the benchmarks to which the infringement relates and shall perform his or her functions independently from ESMA’s Board of Supervisors.