ESMA Publishes 2027 Work Programme and Simplification Report

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its 2027 Annual Work Programme on 28 September 2026, together with a separate report on simplification and burden reduction covering actions taken in 2026 and planned for 2027. Guided by ESMA’s multi-annual strategy for 2023-2028, the programme sets a T+1 settlement target date of 11 October 2027, schedules a first full year of supervision of ESG rating providers and external reviewers of European Green Bonds, and moves four flagship simplification projects into a new phase.

Verena Ross, ESMA’s chair, said in the announcement: “2027 marks an important milestone for the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) as many of ESMA’s strategic initiatives move into the delivery phase.” Ross said ESMA is already advancing elements of the SIU agenda, including initiatives to simplify the regulatory, reporting and supervisory framework, while co-legislators continue work on the Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP). She said the programme reflects ESMA’s commitment to strengthening the Single Market, protecting investors and safeguarding financial stability. According to the work programme, 2027 marks a shift from analysis and groundwork to implementation and delivery, building on foundations laid in 2025 and 2026, and the programme is kept flexible so resources can be reallocated should MISP be finalised during the year.

Expanding Supervisory Mandates

ESMA will advance supervision of consolidated tape providers (CTPs) and external reviewers of European Green Bonds, both begun in 2026, and will process applications and begin supervision of ESG rating providers. For ESG rating providers, 2027 will be the first full year of application of the regulation and ESMA’s first year of supervision; the authority said it will assess business models and potential risks to investors and market integrity under a risk-based approach, focusing on the independence of rating output, the management of conflicts of interest and the robustness of methodologies.

In benchmarks, ESMA has been the single entry point for all third-country benchmark administrators in the EU since 1 January 2026. In 2027 it will adapt to expanded responsibilities under the revised Benchmarks Regulation, including supervision of EU administrators endorsing third-country benchmarks. Euribor, administered by EMMI, remains the only critical benchmark at EU level, with supervisory focus on the robustness and resilience of its methodology and the representativeness of contributor banks.

Together with the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), ESMA will continue oversight of critical ICT third-party service providers, completing two full years of that oversight by the end of 2027. It will also keep monitoring compliance with the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which enters its third year of application in 2027.

In clearing, ESMA will review the impact of the EMIR 3 reforms, present the results of its sixth CCP stress test in the first quarter of 2027 and deliver a final report on the effectiveness of the active account requirement in the third quarter. It expects to authorise the first derivatives consolidated tape provider in the second quarter of 2027, after commencing supervision of the equities CTP in 2026.

The programme confirms 11 October 2027 as the target date for the EU’s move to T+1 settlement, mandated by a CSDR amendment that followed ESMA’s 2024 report under CSDR Refit. ESMA will coordinate preparedness with the European Commission and the European Central Bank within a governance structure put in place in 2025, monitoring stakeholder implementation and the testing phase.

ESMA will implement the European Single Access Point (ESAP) in phases, with the public roll-out of phase 1, covering the Transparency Directive and the Prospectus Regulation, scheduled for the third quarter of 2027. Subject to finalisation of the Retail Investment Strategy legal texts, ESMA will also begin delivering technical advice to the Commission and technical standards on investor protection topics including value for money, inducements, disclosures, suitability and appropriateness, and marketing communications.

Simplification and Burden Reduction

ESMA launched its simplification and burden reduction workstream in the second half of 2024, following the reports of Mario Draghi, The Future of European Competitiveness (September 2024), and Enrico Letta, Much More Than a Market (April 2024). Its four flagship projects cover transaction reporting, funds reporting, the retail investor journey and risk-based supervision.

The July 2026 final report on transaction reporting recommends long-term convergence of MiFIR, EMIR and SFTR into a “report once” model. ESMA’s cost-benefit analysis estimates savings of 22 to 24% of annual cost, combined savings of between EUR 1 billion and EUR 4 billion over a ten-year horizon across all stakeholders, and a cost reduction of 10% of relevant cost for national competent authorities, with implementation costs offset at the end of the third year. Should co-legislators choose the policy options, ESMA said an integrated reporting model could be operational within five years, assuming the necessary Level 1 changes are made by mid-2028.

On funds reporting, ESMA has started developing regulatory and implementing technical standards for a harmonised single reporting framework under the AIFMD and UCITS regimes, aiming to finalise the standards in the second quarter of 2027 alongside a dedicated IT project. Elsewhere, a review of the guidelines on prospectus disclosure cut their content by more than 30%, and the amended Benchmarks Regulation is expected to remove approximately 90% of existing benchmark administrators from scope, with ESMA updating related Q&As and guidelines in the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027.

With the EBA and EIOPA, ESMA is streamlining the PRIIPs Key Information Document, with consumer testing and a public consultation planned in the first half of 2027 covering a new “Product at a glance” section, performance information and the rules for multi-option products. ESMA also published common principles on risk-based supervision in January 2026 and will continue their roll-out across national supervisors in 2027.

Under its Data Strategy 2023-2028 and Digital Strategy 2026-2028, ESMA will progress its Data Platform, deploy AI-based supervisory tools and strengthen its cybersecurity posture in line with the EU Cybersecurity Regulation. It will start a new Union-wide Strategic Supervisory Priority on technological innovation in the retail investor space, covering artificial intelligence and tokenisation, while continuing the existing priority on cyber and digital operational resilience.

On crypto-assets, ESMA will focus its 2027 MiCA convergence work on the supervision of crypto-asset service providers and their operational resilience. The transitional period for trading platform operators to ensure a crypto-asset white paper is drawn up expires on 31 December 2027, and the European Commission is expected to issue its report on the application of MiCA by June 2027. The first phase of MIDAS, ESMA’s centralised system for market surveillance of crypto assets, will be fully operational by 2027, with a move to phase 2 subject to approval by ESMA’s Board.

The programme also keeps tokenisation as a priority: ESMA will assess its implications for market structure, regulatory frameworks, interoperability, settlement arrangements, custody and legal certainty, feeding into the upcoming review of the DLT Pilot Regulation. From the 2027 financial year, ESMA will integrate into its revenues the supervisory fees under its newer mandates covering DORA, consolidated tape providers, European Green Bonds and ESG rating providers, fees introduced progressively in 2025 and 2026.