The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) and the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) have called on policymakers to focus on enhancing competition and innovation to scale up EU equity markets, rather than shifting trading back to incumbent exchanges.
Adam Farkas
In a joint paper, the two trade associations emphasise that competition, transparency and simplification are essential for boosting EU equity markets, highlighting that restricting access to mechanisms such as bilateral trading may undo any positive momentum gained since Mifid II came into play.
The trade associations also indicated that proposals such as accelerating the delivery of a robust consolidated tape, enforcing Reasonable Commercial Basis rules to curb market data costs, and advancing post-trade integration should be front of mind for policymakers.
Adam Farkas, chief executive at AFME, said: “Our proposals set out a clear, optimistic vision for competitive European equity markets that preserve investor choice while strengthening transparency and market efficiency. By contrast, proposals from Europe’s leading stock exchanges have yet to articulate how EU equity markets can scale and compete globally, appearing instead primarily focused on restricting competition from alternative trading models.
“Bilateral trading mechanisms play an important role in delivering efficient execution and meaningful choice for investors and attempts to curtail them risk undermining the competition that has helped lower costs and improve outcomes under the MiFID framework.”
In addition, the paper emphasises that reforms should prioritise investor outcomes, to support the smooth function of markets, as well as efficient price formation and competitive trading conditions.
These calls for action also align with ongoing discussions on the EU’s Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP), published in December 2025 as part of the wider Savings and Investments Union initiative.
Read more – Trade associations call on ESMA and the European Commission to strengthen consolidated tape framework
Moreover, the paper also underlines that regulatory simplification and evidence-based policymaking should be a key part of the MISP, to avoid unnecessary complexities, and ensure focus on reforms where structural inefficiencies linger, notably, market data, clearing and settlement.
“The MISP regulatory framework promotes the principles of competition and choice, and democratises access to trading data,” said Tanguy van de Werve, director general at EFAMA.
“EFAMA, therefore, fully supports a rapid passage of this legislative package. As the firms responsible for moving major institutional flows, we have every bit of faith that a well-designed CT will deliver the transparency needed to continue to deepen and grow Europe’s capital markets.”