The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has approved the registrations of the first two securitisation repositories (SRs) under the EU Securitisation Regulation. The registration decisions for European DataWarehouse GmbH based in Germany, and SecRep B.V. based in the Netherlands will become effective on 30 June 2021.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its annual transparency calculations for non-equity instruments and quarterly bond liquidity assessment on 30 April 2025. The non-equity calculations, effective 2 June 2025 to 31 May 2026, include liquidity assessments and size-specific thresholds. The bond liquidity assessment identified 1,371 liquid bonds subject to Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II transparency requirements, applicable from 19 May 2025 to 17 August 2025. Results are available through ESMA's Financial Instruments Transparency System and Register web interface.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its first consolidated report on sanctions and measures imposed by national competent authorities (NCAs), covering 2023. Over 970 administrative sanctions and measures were imposed across EU Member States in financial sectors, totalling over 71 million EUR. The highest fines were imposed under the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). ESMA says the report suggests there is room for more convergence between NCAs in their sanctioning powers.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published updated questions and answers (Q&A’s) on regulatory implementation relating to the European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation (ECSPR) and the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA). The ECSPR Q&A’s impacted are ‘Bulletin Board – Disclosure obligations (point (b) of Article 25(3) of the ECSPR)’ and ‘Assessment of the entity to be considered as the project owner’. The impacted MiCA Q&As are ‘Registered AIFM and MICA’ and ‘Autotrading’.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released new and updated questions and answers (Q&As), relating to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), European crowdfunding service providers for business (ECSPR) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). The impacted Q&As include: assessment of significance for Error and Omission Notifications and reporting of Settlement Rate Options (EMIR); calculation of thresholds in point (c) of Article 1(2) of ECSPR and crowdfunding multiple offers (ECSPR), and open interest thresholds in energy derivatives (MiFID II).

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released revised questions and answers (Q&As) on several crucial EU financial regulations with the aim to foster supervisory alignment and support financial market participants in applying these regulations throughout the EU. The latest framework oversees developing areas such as: the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), while concentrating on issues like ICT incident reporting, review of critical third-party providers, and accreditation of crypto-asset service providers.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), in collaboration with the European Commission and European Central Bank, introduced a new governance framework to facilitate the EU's transition to a T+1 settlement cycle which is proposed to launch on 11 October 2027. The governance framework will consist of an industry committee (chaired by Giovanni Sabatini) and will be supported by technical taskforces together with a coordination committee led by ESMA.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a statement reminding firms of their obligation to assess whether newly offered products fall within the scope of existing product intervention measures on contracts for differences (CFDs)adopted by national competent authorities (NCAs).

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), together with the national competent authorities (NCAs), has completed an analysis of the cross-border provision of investment services during 2023. The data sets were collected from investment firms across 30 jurisdictions in the EU/EEA. ESMA will perform the next data collection in 2025.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its response to the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s (EFRAG) consultation on the Exposure Draft for revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). ESMA supports the objectives of simplification but expresses concerns regarding several aspects of the draft. These include the proposed dual materiality definitions, the transition from reporting impacts, risks and opportunities to sustainability topics, and the introduction of unlimited reliefs, which may ultimately discourage improvements in disclosure quality.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a consultation paper on the conditions of the active account requirement (AAR) following the review of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR 3). The AAR mandates that EU counterparties active in specific derivatives maintain an operational and representative account with an EU-authorised central counterparty. Responses are sought by 27 January 2025, with ESMA aiming to submit final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) within six months of EMIR 3's enactment. ESMA plans to organise a public hearing on 20 January 2025.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a consultation paper on amendments to the research provisions in the Markets in Financial Instruments II Delegated Directive (MiFID II). This consultation follows changes introduced by the EU Listing Act. ESMA plans to provide its technical advice to the European Commission in Q2 2025. Responses are due by 28 January 2025.