European Union: Securities

The European Commission has published new delegated regulations amending the EU prospectus disclosure regime, introducing streamlined content requirements and standardized formats for various categories of prospectuses. These reforms, part of the broader EU Listing Act package, aim to reduce regulatory burdens for issuers while maintaining investor protection, with key changes including reduced historical financial information requirements and simplified disclosure obligations.

Germany's implementation of the EU AI Regulation assigns BaFin as the market surveillance authority for AI systems in financial services, while new guidance clarifies investment product classifications under PRIIPs and establishes transitional rules for ESG rating providers. BaFin also provides supervisory guidance on the Payment for Order Flow ban affecting investment firms and neo-banks.

Germany's financial regulator BaFin has issued comprehensive guidance consolidating its administrative practices for corporate takeovers under the WpÜG.

Germany's financial regulator has issued detailed guidance on which business models will be permitted following the payment for order flow ban that took full effect in July 2026. The notice clarifies which replacement structures are acceptable and which will be treated as circumvention, with particular implications for retail brokers, infrastructure providers, and firms operating layered distribution chains.

The European Commission has introduced revised implementing technical standards for insider list formats under the Market Abuse Regulation, significantly reducing administrative burdens by removing several personal data fields and extending simplified formats to all issuers. These changes, which entered into force on 5 July 2026, require issuers to update their insider list templates while maintaining core compliance obligations for tracking individuals with access to inside information.

EU financial supervisory authorities have published their 2025 annual reports, revealing a fundamental shift from framework development to operational enforcement and implementation monitoring. The reports demonstrate how the European Banking Authority, ESMA, EIOPA, ECB-SSM, and Single Resolution Board are moving toward data-driven supervision, systematic DORA monitoring, and enhanced cross-sectoral coordination. What does this transition from rule construction to demonstrable, peer-comparable outcomes mean

On 19 June 2026, the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) issued a circular drawing stakeholders’ attention to key amendments to Regulation (EU)...

The European Commission has adopted new implementing technical standards under the Market Abuse Regulation, fundamentally changing how issuers must maintain insider lists.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has issued a definitive statement clarifying that the MiCAR transitional period expires on 1 July 2026, after which any entity providing crypto-asset services to EU clients without proper authorization will be in breach of EU law. This regulatory deadline represents a fundamental legal transformation of the EU crypto-asset market, affecting business models, contractual relationships, board exposure, and enforcement risk for crypto-asset service providers.