The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published a statement by Managing Director for High Yield and Equity Capital Markets at AFME, Gary Simmons, welcoming the new FCA Prospectus Regime as an important step in enhancing the UK’s attractiveness as a place to raise capital. He notes the modernised, more flexible framework will improve disclosure quality, make the UK a more attractive venue for initial listings and follow-on issuances, increase participation in UK capital markets, and improve transaction efficiency. Simmons also notes that simplifying disclosure requirements, removing denomination thresholds, and introducing a more proportionate framework will reduce barriers for issuers.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), the European DataWarehouse and True Sale International have published their tenth biannual European Benchmarking Exercise report, covering H2 2025 private securitisation market data. Drawing on voluntarily submitted aggregated transaction-level information from 12 banks across six European countries, the organisers assessed the quality and usefulness of disclosure in the European private cash securitisation market, including both asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) and balance-sheet financed securitisations. Collateralised loan obligations, synthetic securitisations and public asset-backed securities were excluded from the exercise. The overall private securitisation market was estimated at €250.48 billion of total commitments, with €84 billion of commitments represented in the dataset. Trade receivables and auto loans or leases together accounted for around 75% of the market, rising to 89% when consumer loans and equipment leasing were included.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published its updated guidelines on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure and diligence practices for the European high yield market. The guidelines detail key sustainability factors relevant to high yield bonds and leveraged finance transactions and provide insight into the evolving regulatory environment across Europe and the UK. Additionally, an annex featuring the High Yield ESG Due Diligence Questionnaire offers a flexible framework for market participants’ ESG due diligence that can be applied across a range of capital market transactions.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) in conjunction with Linklaters, have published an updated implementation guide for EU and UK MiFIR/MiFID II reforms, covering developments from October 2024 to March 2025. The guide outlines changes including: the EU's new designated publishing entity regime for post-trade reporting, new  bond and derivatives transparency requirements  and plans for consolidated tape providers in both jurisdictions. It details implementation challenges arising from divergent EU-UK requirements, such as different approaches to systematic internaliser regimes and transaction reporting. The guide examines regulatory changes across market structure, transparency, market data pricing, consolidated tape development, transaction reporting systems and new payment options for investment research. The guide is focused on sell-side firms in wholesale secondary markets, however, it is also of wider interest to other market participants

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), in partnership with Linklaters, published the third iteration of its MiFIR/MiFID II implementation guide for sell-side firms operating in wholesale secondary markets. The updated guide incorporates regulatory developments up to 28 November 2025 and is designed to help financial institutions navigate implementation requirements and address key pain points.

AFME has published a revised version of its equity selling restrictions to reflect the new UK prospectus regime under the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024 (POATRs) and the FCA Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market (PRM) which came into force on 19 January 2026.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) published a vision paper on 29 April 2026 setting out recommendations for future distributed ledger technology-(DLT) based architecture for European capital markets. The paper coincides with the European Central Bank launching its Appia initiative and the UK announcing a Digital Champion for DLT coordination. AFME recommends moving from current centralised market infrastructure to regulated network-based systems, with priority actions including operationalising the Pontes initiative for central bank money connectivity, enabling collateral eligibility for DLT securities, creating interoperability standards and updating legal frameworks to enable Settlement Schemes under the revised DLT Pilot Regime.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has partnered with Linklaters LLP to publish a guide aimed at helping financial institutions navigate and implement regulatory requirements relating to MiFIR and MiFID II.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published its European High Yield and Leveraged Loan Report for Q2 2025, which provides an overview on issuance trends and credit performance in the high yield and leveraged loan segments.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has released its Q3 2024 European environmental, social and governance (ESG) finance report, revealing a mixed review. Key findings include: ESG bond and loan issuance increased 6% year-on-year to £116bn; green bonds illustrated a solid performance; sustainable, social and sustainability-linked bonds declined; ESG securitisation market reached its peak since 2021; while the proportion of ESG bonds in total European issuance has stagnated at 14% from last year.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published its latest report on UK capital markets, reflecting a mixed performance as the UK continues to be a leading global financial hub however, the gap with other markets is closing and the report indicates that UK corporations have sourced a quarter of their funding from public markets over the past three years, with capital markets issuance for non-financial corporations increasing in 2024. Despite long-term trends illustrating notable declines in convertibles, initial public offerings, and follow-on issuances; the UK remains strong in areas like unicorn companies and household savings in capital market instruments with the exception of challenges surrounding medium-sized enterprise equity risk financing and green bond origination.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published a report titled “Digital Finance in the EU – Priorities for fostering resilient, innovative and competitive financial markets”. In the report, the AFME recommends the support of development of capital markets and increased access to finance through new technologies.