European
financial regulators handed out more than 970 administrative sanctions and
penalties in 2023, collecting over €71 million in fines from firms that
violated securities rules, according to the first consolidated enforcement
report published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
EU Financial Regulators
Imposed 970+ Sanctions Worth €71 Million in 2024
The data
covers enforcement actions taken by national regulators across all 27 EU member
states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. ESMA compiled the figures to
provide a clearer picture of how European authorities police their financial
markets.
Market
abuse cases and violations of investment services rules drew the steepest
penalties. Regulators imposed the largest fines under the Market Abuse
Regulation and the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, known as
MiFID II, which governs how investment firms operate and treat clients.
⭐ #AnnualReportESMA | #ESMA’s work in 2024 was wrapped in the vision to improve the wider capital markets’ ecosystem and put investors and companies at the heart of it → a closer look at the milestones we have reached 👇
— ESMA – EU Securities Markets Regulator 🇪🇺 (@ESMAComms) June 16, 2025
ESMA shows significant variation in how different countries approach enforcement.
Some jurisdictions rely heavily on administrative fines, while others prefer
alternative measures like public warnings or orders to change business
practices.
“The
report highlighted the need for greater convergence in sanctioning by
NCAs,” ESMA
noted in its annual review, referring to national competent authorities that
supervise financial firms in each country.
Related: ESMA Pushes Social Media Giants to Address Unauthorized Financial Ads
For example, the Cypriot regulator, CySEC, conducted more than 850 audits, imposed fines totaling €2.76 million, and withdrew several operating licenses. With new European Union regulations coming into force, the authority is intensifying its focus on compliance to support investor protection and maintain financial system stability.
ESMA’s Own Actions
Beyond the
statistical overview, ESMA took direct enforcement action of its own last year.
In March, the authority sanctioned Scope Ratings GmbH for multiple breaches of
conflict-of-interest rules that apply to credit rating agencies. The case
involved what ESMA described as “structural failures and specific
breaches” of requirements designed to keep rating agencies independent
from the companies they evaluate.
ESMA also withdrew the registration of EuroRating in June after the credit rating agency voluntarily renounced its authorization. Additionally, the authority withdrew authorization from an unnamed data reporting service provider under MiFIR after the entity requested the withdrawal.
The highest financial penalties were issued under the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). These regulations, central to maintaining transparency and investor confidence in EU financial markets, accounted for the bulk of enforcement actions recorded over the past year.
The
enforcement data represents the first time European regulators have published a
comprehensive view of sanctions across the continent’s fragmented regulatory
landscape. Previously, enforcement statistics were scattered across individual
national reports, making it difficult to assess the overall level of regulatory
activity.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
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