The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published recommendations for streamlining EU digital finance regulations. The paper identifies overlapping requirements between the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), calling for financial services to be exempted from CRA where DORA provides equivalent protection. AFME also highlights implementation challenges in the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, particularly regarding definitions of AI systems and high-risk AI, and raises concerns about the Financial Data Access regulation's scope and implementation timeline. AFME further emphasises the need to reduce duplicate reporting requirements and administrative burdens while maintaining effective oversight.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published a position paper calling for reforms to the EU Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP) proposals on distributed ledger technology (DLT). AFME says the proposed Settlement Scheme model should promote innovation, connectivity, resilience and competition in EU capital markets rather than replicate existing centralised market structures. It recommends increasing the proposed €10 billion threshold for DLT financial instruments per scheme to at least €50 billion, streamlining authorisation requirements for DLT account keepers and notaries, broadening settlement options to include tokenised deposits and e-money tokens and removing the proposed two-scheme participation limit to support economically viable and scalable network-based settlement.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published recommendations concerning post-trade transparency reporting of multi-security contingent trades under the revised RTS 2 of MiFID 2, applicable in both the EU and UK jurisdictions. These recommendations aim to clarify confusion arising from overlapping definitions between two reporting flags introduced under MiFID 2. The 'TPAC' flag, used for package transactions, has long existed in RTS 2, while the 'PORT' flag for portfolio transactions was introduced in 2024 in both the EU and the UK.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published a report titled ‘Scaling up and integrating EU capital markets’, which sets out its vision on the future of EU capital markets. The AFME supports the fresh political momentum to advance the capital markets union (CMU) and suggests focusing on increasing market liquidity, relaunching the EU securitisation market and modernising the regulatory and supervisory ecosystem.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published a report examining the potential effects of simplifying the EU bank capital framework, including an estimated increase of up to €2.8 trillion in lending to the real economy and a reduction in banks’ cost of capital of around 62 basis points. The report describes the current framework as comprising seven overlapping capital buffer layers, which may result in up to 86 distinct buffer requirements for cross-border banking groups due to national variations.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), in collaboration with eleven European and international organisations, has released the eighth edition of its Capital Markets Union – Key Performance Indicators report, which tracks the EU’s progress in strengthening and integrating its capital markets and measures key developments. The report finds that the EU has made only limited progress in closing the competitiveness gap with major global markets, with structural weaknesses persisting. Key findings include: continued weak IPO activity, ongoing market fragmentation and a slowdown in market-based funding, alongside trends such as rising private capital and increased issuance of DLT-based bonds.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published a report, outlining proposals to support the development and adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in financial services. The report sets out a strategic framework aimed at positioning the UK as a global centre for DLT-based financial services, building on existing initiatives such as the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS), the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) pilot and efforts to synchronise the real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) with DLT platforms.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published its response to the European Commission’s targeted consultation on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector. In its response, AFME called for swift completion of the Banking Union to reduce fragmentation, support consolidation and facilitate the free flow of capital and liquidity. AFME also emphasised the importance of simplifying duplicative requirements, aligning more closely with global standards and consistently implementing Basel rules. This includes revisions to level 1 legislation where significant divergences exist. AFME further highlighted the need to streamline internal governance, remove barriers to digital transformation and ensure that rulemaking and supervision are more proportionate, coherent and accountable.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published a position paper responding to the ongoing EU trilogue negotiations on the sustainability omnibus package. AFME’s response calls for genuine simplification and proportionate, workable requirements that minimise regulatory burdens while supporting the EU’s competitiveness. It identifies three key priorities for the trilogues: maintaining a practical approach to value chain reporting and due diligence, ensuring transition plans remain strategic and non-duplicative and enabling prompt adoption of the omnibus one changes. AFME also emphasises the need to align financial sector regulation with the omnibus reforms and to further simplify taxonomy reporting.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has released a response to HM Treasury's consultation on a UK Green Taxonomy, emphasising the need to prioritise existing sustainable finance initiatives. AFME recommends focusing on: policies for real economy adaptation; adopting UK sustainability reporting standards aligned with the international sustainability standards board (ISSB); consulting on transition plan disclosures and; implementing recommendations from the UK transition finance market review.

The European Commission has published a report on the future of European competitiveness (Part A: A competitiveness strategy for Europe).

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published roadmaps for 'Scaling Capital Markets based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)'. The roadmaps focus on European Sovereign, Supranational and Public Agency (SSA) bond issuers, and EU and UK policymakers and regulators.