ContextKeynote by the ESMA Chair in London at the Annual General Meeting and conference of ICMA, the international capital market association.
Why it mattersThe ESMA Chair argues for centralised supervision of Europe's main market infrastructures.
- Geopolitical tensions drive market volatility.
- Supervision of pan-European infrastructures is fragmented.
- Rules are complex and inconsistent.
- Centralise supervision of the main pan-European infrastructures.
- Simplify rules and improve proportionality.
- Strengthen risk-based supervision across ESMA and national authorities.
Read the speech summary
1. Resilient markets and the integration package
Speaking at the ICMA annual conference in London, ESMA Chair Verena Ross said that despite geopolitical volatility and a clouded outlook, capital markets have stayed resilient, which matters because they stabilise economies, while Europe needs deep, integrated markets to finance a competitive, low-carbon economy. ESMA fully backs the savings and investments union and the market integration and supervision package. Trading and post-trading remain fragmented along national lines; a proposed pan-European trading venue regime would let operators run several venues across member states, and the many securities depositories raise settlement costs and complicate cross-border deals, so connections between hubs, reciprocal links, T2S participation and clearing interoperability would help. For key pan-European infrastructures, centralised supervision would be more consistent and give a clearer view of risk, and ESMA, with fifteen years of experience, says it is ready, though building the capability will be a challenge.
2. Deeper markets, technology and simplification
She cited the EU consolidated tape, now taking shape, to improve transparency, and the move to one-day settlement on 11 October 2027, aligned between the EU and the UK, for which everyone should prepare. Tokenisation could streamline issuance, trading and settlement, embed compliance and give supervisors real-time tools, and the DLT pilot regime shows it working; the package should improve it without creating new fragmentation. Finally, accumulated detailed and duplicative rules create complexity, so ESMA is simplifying the policy framework, focusing supervision where risks are highest and reviewing reporting under market, derivatives and financing-transaction rules to report once and use many times.