ContextOpening statement at the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON), Verena Ross's last annual hearing as ESMA Chair.
Why it mattersReviews what has been achieved for EU capital markets and what is still missing to integrate them.
- Markets face high uncertainty and volatility.
- EU capital markets remain fragmented across national supervisors.
- Rules and reporting have become too complex.
- Keep removing unnecessary barriers between national markets.
- Apply risk-based, proportionate supervision.
- Maintain momentum on the capital markets reform package.
Read the speech summary
1. A farewell hearing
In her last appearance before the European Parliament's economic committee as ESMA Chair, Verena Ross reviewed the past year and her term. Amid geopolitical tension, trade disputes and fast technological change, she argued Europe needs deep and attractive capital markets to fund innovation and growth and let citizens share in it.
2. A year of integration and simplification
She cited progress on consolidated market data feeds, the single access point for company information, preparation for next-day settlement, derivatives clearing rules and the Listing Act. Responding to industry complaints, ESMA proposed lighter transaction and fund reporting, a simpler path for retail investors and risk-based supervision, while insisting investor protection and market integrity stay intact. On crypto-assets, the focus has shifted from writing rules to supervising them consistently.
3. Looking ahead
Innovation, she added, can only grow at scale where investors trust it, so good regulation and supervision enable rather than hinder it. Recalling that ESMA has grown over fifteen years through the debt crisis, Brexit and the pandemic, now supervising more firms directly and in close partnership with national authorities, she backed the market integration and supervision package now being negotiated and said ESMA is ready for any new direct-supervision tasks, urging lawmakers to keep up the pace and remove remaining barriers so that rules and supervision match an increasingly integrated market.