What happened?
The European Commission is preparing to shift supervision of stock exchanges, crypto firms, and clearing houses from national regulators to the EU watchdog ESMA. ESMA says the current 27-country approach under MiCA has led to duplication, inconsistent enforcement, and gaps — it even flagged shortcomings in Malta’s crypto licensing. The proposal faces pushback from smaller member states, but the Commission is moving ahead while ESMA expands roles like consolidated price tapes and ESG ratings from 2026.
Who does this affect?
National regulators, exchanges, crypto asset service providers, central counterparties, investors, and smaller EU financial centres are all in the spotlight. Cross-border platforms would be directly supervised by ESMA, meaning more uniform rules but also new compliance requirements, while some national regulators could lose influence and fee income. Consumers and investors might get better protection, but firms could face higher costs and rethink where they base or list their businesses.
Why does this matter?
Centralising oversight at ESMA could make EU capital markets more integrated and boost investor confidence, which tends to increase liquidity and cross-border investment. At the same time, higher compliance costs and concentrated regulation could push consolidation, change competitive dynamics, and hurt smaller financial hubs. In short, the move could strengthen the EU’s market position globally but create winners and losers domestically as capital flows, costs, and locations adjust.