ESMA Launches New Portal for Its Financial Services Register

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA ESMA European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an independent Authority of the European Union that is responsible for the safety, security, and stability of the European Unions’ financial system and is charged with protecting the public. The European supervisory authority for the securities sector, ESMA was established on 1 January 2011. The European Securities and Markets Authority is an independent EU authority based in Paris. It aims to contribute to the effectiveness and stability of t European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an independent Authority of the European Union that is responsible for the safety, security, and stability of the European Unions’ financial system and is charged with protecting the public. The European supervisory authority for the securities sector, ESMA was established on 1 January 2011. The European Securities and Markets Authority is an independent EU authority based in Paris. It aims to contribute to the effectiveness and stability of t Read this Term) has launched a one-stop-shop portal to make the search for financial service providers registered in the European Union easier.‎

The register will help customers identify firms which have been acting without the ‎correct permissions, including those knowingly running a scam. ‎ It also provides a reference to sanctions applied by the competent ‎authorities in the member states under several European ‎legislations.‎

ESMA's new portal will have one search field in which users will be able to find the regulatory status ‎of a business by looking up its name or reference number. The results will display the firm’s basic information ‎such as its contact details, the permissions it has and the legal status, e.g. whether they are authorized or approved.

Certain MiFID ‎investment firms including Systematic Internalisers will also be searchable.‎

The new register is aimed at making it easier for users to find information on businesses ‎which operate as MiFID trading venues, MiFID data reporting service providers, ‎UCITS management companies, and AIFMD fund managers including funds ‎managed/marketed in the ‎European Union.‎