The European Securities and Markets Authority published its 2025 Annual Report detailing a dual regulatory approach that combined expanding oversight of crypto assets, artificial intelligence, and digital resilience with efforts to simplify existing reporting requirements. ESMA Chair Verena Ross stated that 2025 was a pivotal year when the Savings and Investments Union initiative moved from aspiration to concrete proposals. The report arrives as European policymakers push to strengthen capital markets across the European Union and improve the region's competitiveness against the United States and other major financial centers.
ESMA Launches Four Simplification Projects Targeting Reporting Burden
ESMA launched four projects focused on simplification and burden reduction during 2025, particularly in transaction reporting, fund reporting and the retail investor journey. The authority examined how existing obligations could be streamlined to reduce duplicated reporting requirements, unnecessary implementation costs and operational inefficiencies.
The regulator paused certain MiFIR reporting amendments to avoid forcing market participants to implement overlapping reporting changes on different timelines. ESMA also published a discussion paper on supervisory reporting under AIFMD and UCITS, proposing a more harmonized approach to regulatory data collection across Europe.
Ross said ESMA launched the projects to holistically enable simplification and burden reduction in reporting and the retail investor journey, as well as to drive forward risk-based supervision.
ESMA Selects First Consolidated Tape Providers And Advances T+1 Settlement
ESMA completed the first selection process for consolidated tape providers under MiFIR in 2025. The regulator selected Fair CT as the first bond consolidated tape provider before later selecting EuroCTP for shares and exchange-traded funds.
The consolidated tape project aims to solve Europe's fragmented market data challenge by providing a single view of market activity across the European Union. European trading data currently remains dispersed across multiple exchanges and trading venues, unlike the United States where market participants can access consolidated data feeds.
ESMA also played a central role in preparations for Europe's transition toward a T+1 settlement cycle. The move would reduce the time between trade execution and settlement from two business days to one, bringing Europe closer to settlement standards already adopted in the United States. Ross noted that the T+1 project accelerated throughout 2025 through cooperation between regulators and industry participants.
ESMA Issues MiCA Guidance And Conducts Crypto Licensing Peer Review
As the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation moved into implementation, ESMA worked closely with national regulators to establish a common framework for authorizing crypto-asset service providers. The authority issued guidance designed to support supervisory convergence and conducted a fast-track peer review focused on how regulators handled crypto licensing applications.
ESMA continued developing technical standards covering crypto reporting, white paper requirements and market surveillance processes. Ross stated that ESMA delivered guidance on authorisations, working closely with national supervisors, and issued warnings on risks arising from unregulated crypto-asset products.
ESMA Expands AI Oversight And Publishes Digital Strategy
ESMA expanded its work on artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technology and decentralized finance during 2025 as financial institutions increased deployment of machine learning models across trading, risk management, compliance and research functions. The regulator's objective is to understand how these technologies affect market integrity, operational resilience and investor protection.
Natasha Cazenave, Executive Director of ESMA, said harnessing new technologies and digitalisation are both necessary and urgent to ensure greater efficiency within ESMA, to increase the effectiveness of supervision and to contribute to the reduction of regulatory burden. ESMA published digital and data strategies designed to increase the use of analytics, improve supervisory capabilities and expand access to regulatory data.
ESMA Designates 19 Critical ICT Providers Under DORA
Working alongside the European Banking Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, ESMA helped operationalize the Digital Operational Resilience Act. In November 2025, regulators designated the first 19 critical ICT third-party providers that will be subject to European oversight.
The designation represents an expansion of regulatory scrutiny into technology providers that support financial institutions. DORA is designed to strengthen resilience across the financial sector by creating consistent requirements for operational risk management, cybersecurity preparedness and incident reporting.
FAQ
What did ESMA focus on in its 2025 Annual Report?
ESMA's 2025 Annual Report detailed a dual approach combining regulatory simplification with expanded oversight of crypto assets, artificial intelligence, and digital resilience. The authority launched four projects targeting simplification and burden reduction in transaction reporting, fund reporting and the retail investor journey while implementing the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and the Digital Operational Resilience Act.
Who did ESMA select as consolidated tape providers in 2025?
ESMA completed the first selection process for consolidated tape providers under MiFIR in 2025, selecting Fair CT as the first bond consolidated tape provider and later selecting EuroCTP for shares and exchange-traded funds. The consolidated tape project aims to provide a single view of market activity across the European Union by addressing Europe's fragmented market data structure.
How many ICT providers did ESMA designate under DORA in November 2025?
In November 2025, ESMA and European banking and insurance regulators designated the first 19 critical ICT third-party providers that will be subject to European oversight under the Digital Operational Resilience Act. The designation expands regulatory scrutiny into technology providers that support financial institutions across cloud computing, outsourced infrastructure and third-party technology platforms.
