The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a public call for evidence aimed at simplifying and improving the efficiency of supervisory reporting across EU financial markets. The initiative forms part of ESMA’s wider Data Strategy and its ongoing efforts to reduce the regulatory burden on market participants.
In its announcement, the EU’s financial markets regulator underscored its aim to reduce the complexity and cost of transaction reporting, while preserving transparency and ensuring effective oversight. The move responds to long-standing concerns from stakeholders regarding overlapping obligations, duplicative reporting channels, and frequent, uncoordinated regulatory changes.
As part of ESMA’s broader burden reduction efforts, we want to streamline the transaction reporting framework, which we know constitutes a significant cost for market participants. […] The goal is to reduce complexity and costs for stakeholders while enhancing data quality, sharing and usability.
The call for evidence builds on feedback previously gathered through consultations and regulatory engagement with the industry. In particular, market participants have highlighted the difficulties posed by inconsistent requirements across various reporting regimes, such as MiFIR, EMIR and SFTR.
To address these issues, ESMA is seeking views on two potential options:
Eliminating overlaps in reporting obligations while retaining the existing reporting channels; or
Introducing a unified reporting template based on the "report once" principle, consolidating multiple frameworks into a single reporting structure.
While the consultation is ongoing, ESMA has confirmed it will not propose changes to the technical standards currently under review within the MiFIR framework—specifically those relating to transaction (RTS 22), order (RTS 24), and reference data (RTS 23) reporting. This decision is expected to relieve short-term implementation pressure on firms, thereby reducing immediate compliance costs.
Mentioned within the call for evidence is the "report once" principle, which would simplify transaction reporting through the consolidation of multiple frameworks via a single submission. Rather than requiring firms to submit similar or overlapping data to different authorities under separate rules (e.g., MiFIR, EMIR, SFTR), the principle envisions a single, unified reporting template that captures all necessary information in one go.
Interested parties are invited to submit their responses by 19 September 2025. ESMA also intends to engage directly with various stakeholder groups to assess the practical implications of the proposed options and further explore the key cost drivers behind supervisory reporting.
A final report is expected by early 2026, which will summarise the feedback received, identify the main sources of compliance costs and outline ESMA’s recommended way forward.
Further details, including how to respond to the call for evidence, can be found on ESMA’s website.