ESMA’s annual data report shows increased quality, wider use and digital progress
Executive Summary
ESMA’s latest annual report on the **quality and use of regulatory data** confirms a material step‑up in supervisory reliance on EMIR, SFTR, MiFIR, AIFMD and MMFR datasets, alongside new inclusion of Prospectus and DORA ICT‑incident reporting. For compliance teams this is a clear signal that data quality is now an enforcement‑relevant topic across a broader perimeter, and that ESMA is actively moving toward **streamlined, “report once” cross‑regime reporting** and an integrated funds reporting framework, which will reshape reporting architecture and controls over the next 1–3 years.
What Changed
- - ESMA confirms measurable data quality improvements across EMIR, SFTR, MiFIR, AIFMD and MMFR regulatory datasets, indicating that regulators now consider these data sufficiently reliable for intensive supervisory use.
- ESMA highlights extensive and growing supervisory use of regulatory data by ESMA and NCAs for investor protection, financial stability, orderly markets and market integrity, increasing the supervisory and enforcement value of each reported data point
- The scope of the annual data quality and use report is expanded to include Prospectus reporting obligations, bringing prospectus‑related data formally into ESMA’s cross‑regime data quality scrutiny.
- The report scope is also expanded to include ICT‑related incident reporting under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), signaling that operational resilience incident data will be monitored and benchmarked in a similar way to trading and fun
- ESMA has launched a 2025 Call for Evidence on streamlining reporting across EMIR, MiFIR and SFTR, including options to remove duplications and apply a “report once” approach, which will likely lead to structural changes in firms’ reporting processes
- ESMA is developing an integrated reporting framework for investment funds to harmonise fund‑related reporting requirements, reduce fragmentation across current regimes (including AIFMD and MMFR), and support a more centralised EU data environment.
Suggested Considerations
- Map all existing regulatory reporting obligations across EMIR, SFTR, MiFIR, AIFMD, MMFR, Prospectus and DORA ICT‑incident reporting, and document the underlying data sources, systems and ownership for each regime.
- Review and enhance data quality controls for EMIR, SFTR and MiFIR reporting, including validation rules, completeness checks, reconciliations, pairing and matching processes, and governance around Unique Transaction Identifiers and counterparty data.
- Perform a gap analysis of Prospectus reporting and DORA ICT‑incident reporting processes against ESMA’s emerging cross‑regime data quality expectations and ensure they are covered in the firm’s enterprise data governance framework.
- Establish or update a centralised regulatory data governance framework that explicitly covers cross‑regime consistency (for example, trade and position data alignment between EMIR, SFTR and MiFIR) and defines clear accountability at senior management level.
- Engage with internal IT and reporting teams to identify where a future “report once” model could be supported technically, including harmonised reference data, common identifiers and golden‑source transaction and position records.
- Monitor ESMA publications related to the 2025 Call for Evidence and the integrated investment funds reporting framework, and prepare internal positions and impact assessments for participation in consultations.
Key Dates
Compliance Impact
Regulatory data reported under EMIR, SFTR, MiFIR, AIFMD, MMFR, Prospectus rules and DORA is increasingly used for day‑to‑day supervision, thematic reviews and enforcement, making poor data quality a direct source of regulatory, reputational and potentially financial sanctions risk. As ESMA and NCAs deploy more automated, risk‑based data quality tools, firms with weak controls or inconsistent cross
Who is Affected
References
AI-generated analysis. May contain errors or omissions — verify with the original ESMA source before acting. Full disclaimer.
Summary
ESMA’s annual data report shows increased quality, wider use and digital progress 29 May 2026 Market data The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, published today its annual report on the quality and use of regulatory data . It shows that improvements in data quality and data use reinforce each other in a virtuous cycle, supporting more effective supervision and market monitoring across the EU. This year’s edition reflects an e...