ESMA finds EEA enforcement uneven as three states hold two-thirds of fine value

ESMA's annual consolidated account of how national authorities enforce EU financial markets rules is the clearest public measure of where, and whether, breaches are actually punished. The 2025 edition finds enforcement volumes stable but heavily concentrated, and openly flags divergence that market size does not explain. For anyone operating across EEA jurisdictions, it signals where ESMA now wants outcomes to converge.

• National authorities imposed more than 950 administrative sanctions and measures across the EEA in 2025, with aggregate fines of almost €82 million.
• Germany, France and Spain together accounted for two-thirds of the total value of administrative fines across the EEA.
• Enforcement remained focused on breaches of the Market Abuse Regulation and MiFID II/MiFIR, with increased use of settlements noted.
• ESMA will continue case discussions among national authorities to make similar breaches produce similar enforcement outcomes across the EU.

Executive summary

ESMA, the EU's financial markets regulator, published on 15 October 2026 its third consolidated report on sanctions and measures imposed across the European Economic Area in 2025. The report aggregates data reported by national authorities under the EU financial acts…

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