EU plans to tighten control over financial markets and crypto firms

The European Commission is preparing proposals to expand the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), including direct supervision of “significant” clearing houses, depositories, trading venues, and cryptocurrency companies. The goal is to create a financial supervisory body similar to the SEC in the US. This is reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.

DetailsThe working document proposes, in particular, the creation of an independent executive board to review ESMA and a new status of Pan-European Market Operator (PEMO), which will allow firms to operate across the EU with a single authorization.

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The proposals include:

• granting ESMA powers to directly supervise individual cryptocurrency companies;
• supervision of key central counterparties and trading platforms;
• review of national authorities’ approvals in case of “failure to fulfill supervisory obligations”;
• harmonization of rules by transferring part of the directives into regulations.

These changes are already supported by France and EU institutions, but are causing controversy among some member states and companies that fear an additional layer of regulation. The proposals still need to be agreed upon with the European Parliament and the Council of Member States.

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