European Union – October 29, 2026 -- The Council of the European Union has confirmed Carlo Comporti as the next Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), effective 1 November 2026. ESMA announced the appointment in the latest edition of its Spotlight on Markets newsletter, which covers September and October 2026.

EU – October 29, 2026 -- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has recommended limiting the mandatory operating expenditure (OpEx) KPI under the EU Taxonomy to non-capitalised research and development expenditure, according to a Final Report submitted to the European Commission.

Europe – October 27, 2026 -- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has named geopolitical risks and uncertainties, and restructuring provisions and debt restructuring, as enforcement focus areas for listed issuers' 2026 annual financial reports under its European Common Enforcement Priorities (ECEP).

EU – October 27, 2026 -- The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA) has published its Annual Work Programme for 2027. It lists digital operational resilience, technological innovation, sustainable finance, securitisation and cross-sectoral risk monitoring as the five key priorities for the EU financial sector.

European Union – October 27, 2026 -- The number of retail clients receiving cross-border investment services in the EU/EEA rose 47% in 2025 from 2024 to about 15.5 million, according to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

That is almost twice the 2023 level. ESMA compiled the annual analysis with national competent authorities (NCAs), using data from investment firms across 30 jurisdictions.

European Union – October 27, 2026 -- National authorities across the European Economic Area (EEA) imposed more than 950 administrative sanctions and measures in 2025, with administrative fines totaling almost €82 million, according to the third Sanctions Report from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

The number of sanctions and measures was stable compared with the past two years. The report also records an increased use of settlements.

European Union – October 27, 2026 -- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has updated its transparency manual with new guidance on identifying over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives subject to transparency requirements and on applying the tick-size regime.

ESMA specifies how OTC derivatives reference data must be supplied

The update clarifies how identifying reference data for OTC derivatives should be provided for transparency purposes. ESMA aims to make the data reported to, and published through, the consolidated tape more consistent.

European Union – October 27, 2026 -- The EU will switch to T+1 settlement on 11 October 2027, and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) says the regulatory framework is now complete. ESMA is calling on market participants to finalise technical preparations, assess readiness across their entire ecosystems and start testing across the trading and settlement chain as soon as possible.

European Union – October 27, 2026 -- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has finalised its revised Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) guidelines on delaying the disclosure of inside information, adding five legitimate interests that issuers can cite to justify a delay.

EU – October 27, 2026 -- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has defined the conditions that providers and users of post-trade risk reduction (PTRR) services must meet for certain OTC derivative transactions to be exempt from the clearing obligation under EMIR 3.