Today the European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA) hosted the T+1 Governance Launch Meeting to present the arrangements for driving the move to the reduction of default settlement cycles to T+1 for EU securities markets.
Today the European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA) hosted the T+1 Governance Launch Meeting to present the arrangements for driving the move to the reduction of default settlement cycles to T+1 for EU securities markets.
The new European Commission is under pressure to act quickly and decisively and are moving full steam ahead with their policy priorities in 2025.
We can expect numerous new regulatory proposals in areas of importance for asset managers, including simplification, boosting competitiveness, financial stability and a new Savings & Investment Union proposal.
The focus on competitiveness and regulatory simplicity is definitely a step in the right direction after many years of ballooning regulatory complexity.
EFAMA has published its latest Monthly Statistical Release for October 2024.
Thomas Tilley, Senior Economist at EFAMA, commented: “2024 is shaping up to be another record-breaking year for ETFs, with almost EUR 200 billion in net sales over the first ten months of the year.”
EFAMA has published today the latest edition of its Market Insights series, titled “The sectoral performance of active and passive UCITS - is a simple measure enough?”. This publication compares the net performance of different categories of equity UCITS funds over the last ten years (2014-2023).
EFAMA has published its latest International Quarterly Statistical Release for Q3 2024.
This article was first published in the 2024 Asset Management Report on 12 December 2024.
I am delighted to present the 16th edition of EFAMA’s Asset Management Report, which offers a comprehensive analysis of the current state and recent trends in the European asset management industry.
EFAMA has today published the 16th edition of its Asset Management in Europe report, which provides in-depth analysis of recent trends in the European asset management industry.
Key findings of the report include:
This is the 16th edition of our ‘Asset Management in Europe’ report. The report provides an in-depth analysis of recent trends in the European asset management industry.
Some of the main findings include:
EFAMA has some concerns with ESMA’s clarifications. In the consultation paper (CP), ESMA seems to have a very broad interpretation of the ‘multilateral systems’ definition under MiFID II and states that ‘systems where trading interests can interact but where the execution of transactions is formally undertaken outside the system still qualify as a multilateral system and should be required to seek authorisation’ (paragraph 36).
We disagree with an extension of its scope to UCITS’ and AIFs’ management companies to the scope of the reporting requirements imposed by MiFIR, Art. 26. This extension would be in breach of the principle of proportionality, as:
Article 51(5) of the BMR provides that, unless the Commission has adopted an equivalence decision in relation to a particular third country, a third country administrator has been recognised or a third country benchmark has been endorsed, EU supervised entities may only use a third country benchmark in financial instruments, financial contracts and measurements of the performance of an investment fund that already reference the relevant benchmark prior to 31 December 2021.
EFAMA is grateful for the opportunity to comment on some messages included in the aforementioned roadmap. We believe that these comments should be made clear for all persons interested, especially to those who would like to participate in the upcoming public consultation.
Asset managers represent an important group of benchmark users, either in the case of index funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) - where benchmarks are used as a target for index tracking funds - or in the case of the evaluation of an active manager’s performance - where the fund performance is measured against a selected index or a set of indices.
EFAMA, the voice of the European investment management industry, believes that, for retail clients, standardised disclosure of information can improve the comparability of financial products that promote environmental and/or social characteristics or have a sustainable objective. It will also contribute to the broader policy objectives of the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) to enhance transparency towards end-investors, hold market participants accountable and fight greenwashing.

Discover the 6 reasons why your organisation should become a member of EFAMA.
Our members enjoy significant benefits including the opportunity to shape the industry positions, get first-hand access to regulatory and political intelligence, engage with industry peers and policymakers, and take part in EFAMA events.
Our three membership categories cater to the wide range of organisations that make up and support the investment management industry in Europe.