ESMA sees efficiency gains from stronger CCP supervision – IDX 2026

Speaking at FIA's International Derivatives Expo (IDX) in London on Wednesday, officials from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) and the European Commission discussed the future of CCP supervision amid European market infrastructure reforms.

"Clearly there is an efficiency gain by not having two structures in parallel," said Klaus Loeber, chair of ESMA's CCP Supervisory Committee, on the panel. "There is potential to streamline here."

Patrice Aguesse, head of the market regulation division at the AMF, said centralised supervision would make it easier for regulators to respond during periods of market stress.

"It's always easier to have a quick answer to a market change, or even to a crisis, when you only have one single supervisor," Aguesse said on the panel. "There is a simplification to go straightforward, so it's a way to speed the decision. We definitely support having a single supervisor."

Simplification not deregulation

The panel also discussed broader efforts to simplify reporting requirements across European markets.

"Simplifying does not mean deregulating," said Anna Grochowska, deputy head of unit at the European Commission, on the panel. "We worked very closely with ESMA on transaction reporting rationalisation."

Aguesse said regulators are also seeking to reduce duplication across reporting regimes.

"The major objective for ESMA is to have what we call report once," he said. "You have to report to a regulatory body only one set of data with only one format."

Infrastructure and fragmentation

The discussion also turned to market infrastructure and the growing use of tokenised collateral.

"I see a strong risk that we run into a high degree of fragmentation," Loeber said. "We are talking not about the future, we are talking about now."

Loeber said clearing houses are already approaching regulators with proposals involving tokenised collateral and new infrastructure arrangements.

"It is important that we think about interoperability from the beginning," he said. "The objective should not be more fragmentation. The objective should be more efficient collateral movements."

Meanwhile, European exchange and clearing leaders on Tuesday cautioned against a rapid move to 24/7 trading, arguing that market quality, liquidity and collateral infrastructure remain more important than extending trading hours.

ESMA chair Verena Ross last month stressed the need to revisit the regulator’s rulebook on market integration, enhanced supervision and investor protection to ensure that it remains proportionate in a competitive economic environment.