The European Commission is developing a project to centrally supervise the region’s key financial market infrastructure, including stock exchanges, clearinghouses and virtual currency exchanges.
This approach aims to reduce regulatory fragmentation within the European Union and move towards a more integrated capital markets union.
The aim is to help European companies access financing in a more agile and competitive manner on the continent and avoid dependence on the United States to expand their operations. Sources interviewed by the Financial Times say the coexistence of multiple national and regional regulators increases the cost of doing business cross-border and limits the growth of startups in Europe.
The plan therefore considers strengthening the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to directly supervise the most relevant actors at cross-border level. These include stock exchanges and cryptocurrency service providers..
The committee plans to formally submit its proposal in December. The plan is inspired by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s supervisory model and has the backing of high-profile figures including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and her predecessor Mario Draghi.
Nevertheless, Political debate is expected to be intense. Some member states, such as Germany, have recently shown a positive attitude toward centralized supervision, and France strongly supports the idea. In contrast, Luxembourg and Dublin remain reluctant, arguing that central planning could have a negative impact on local financial sectors and create costly and inefficient structures.
meanwhile, European Central Bank promotes digital euro projectAs reported by CriptoNoticias, the initiative aims to increase Europe’s strategic autonomy and reduce dependence on US payment providers, but it has also sparked debate over privacy and financial controls.