ESMA's Activities

ESMA undertakes a wide range of different activities to achieve its mission and strategic objectives.

ESMA acts as

  • a regulator developing regulatory guidance to supervisors and regulated entities within its remit and drafting proposals for legally binding technical standards;
  • a promotor of supervisory convergence and coordination undertaking peer reviews, organising trainings, facilitating common supervisory actions, developing common EU supervisory priorities;
  • a direct supervisor of a subset of financial infrastructures and service providers;
  • a market monitor carrying out stress tests and publishing reports and research about risks to investors and financial stability;
  • a data and information hub providing infrastructure and data quality control of regulatory data used by supervisors and market participants;
  • a defender of EU common interests in international fora and in relation to non-EU supervisors, promoting common global standards and dialogue with third-country markets and securities supervisors; and
  • a technical advisor to the Commission, Parliament and Council in matters of securities and market supervision by publishing technical advice, opinions and reports.
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ESMA undertakes all of these activities in the following sectors:

Investors and Issuers Markets and Infrastructures
  • Investment services (incl. crowdfunding)
  • Investment management (incl. retail distribution of investment products)
  • Issuer Disclosure (incl. financial reporting)
  • Benchmark Administrators
  • Credit Rating Agencies
  • Central Counterparties
  • Data Reporting Service Providers
  • Trading
  • Central Securities Depositories
  • Securitisation Repositories
  • Trade Repositories
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ESMA carries out its work according to two thematic drivers:

  • Sustainable Finance: ESMA promotes effective and consistent integration of sustainability-related factors in supervisory, convergence, risk assessment and regulatory activities across all sectors.
  • Technological innovation: Promotes resilience and cyber-security across all sectors and fosters convergence in the regulatory and supervisory treatment of new or innovative financial activities and technological innovation such as crypto-assets.
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