Overview
- The European Commission is finalizing a December Market Integration Package that would expand ESMA’s remit to supervise the most significant cross-border trading venues, clearing houses and central securities depositories, as well as key crypto platforms.
- Under the reported plan, ESMA would be empowered to intervene in cross-border disputes and issue binding decisions, while national authorities would continue to oversee smaller domestic firms.
- Support from ECB President Christine Lagarde, former ECB chief Mario Draghi and France’s central bank reflects a push to complete the Capital Markets Union and strengthen enforcement under MiCA, including on stablecoin risks.
- Officials in Luxembourg and Dublin and industry groups such as Efama oppose centralization, warning of lost local control and higher compliance costs for firms.
- ESMA chair Verena Ross points to the inefficiency of 27 separate supervisory build-outs for crypto, and Germany has signaled new openness to EU-level oversight, but the final scope remains politically contested ahead of publication.