ESMA Policy Statements

Key dates

10 January 2025

- The FASTER Directive was published in the Official Journal of the EU, establishing the legal basis for ESMA’s market capitalisation mandate

June 2025

- ESMA published a consultation paper on the draft RTS methodology for calculating market capitalisation and the market capitalisation ratio

25 July 2025

- The consultation period for ESMA’s draft RTS methodology closed

October 2025

- ESMA was expected to finalise the RTS and submit them to the European Commission

16 January 2026

- The European Commission issued a final document referring to the FASTER framework and its threshold mechanics

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams should map whether any serviced Member State may approach or exceed the 1.5% threshold over a rolling four-year period and flag jurisdictions that could trigger special withholding tax relief consequences.
• Tax operations teams should align withholding tax relief workflows with the ESMA-published ratios so that jurisdictional eligibility assessments use the current official figures.
• Data and controls teams should document the calculation source, methodology, and reconciliation process for any internal use of ESMA market capitalisation data.
• Investment firms and intermediaries should review client-facing tax-relief processes to ensure they can respond to changes in Member State status under FASTER.
• Market-data and regulatory-reporting teams should prepare for annual updates by building a recurring review process around each ESMA publication cycle.

What changed

• - ESMA has started publishing annual market capitalisation figures and market capitalisation ratios for each EU Member State under its FASTER Directive mandate.
• The published figures are based on a harmonised methodology developed by ESMA in technical standards, using transaction data reported under MiFIR.
• Market capitalisation is calculated from shares admitted to trading on a regulated market or multilateral trading facility, with aggregation at the level of the issuer’s legal address in the relevant...
• The market capitalisation ratio is calculated as the Member State’s market capitalisation divided by the total market capitalisation of all Member States on the same date, expressed as a percentage.
• Member States whose market size exceeds 1.5% of total EU market capitalisation for four consecutive years are subject to specific withholding tax relief-related requirements.

Key dates

23 November 2025

- RTS on RCB enters into force

23 February 2026

- Withdrawal of legacy ESMA guidelines takes effect immediately

22 August 2026

- End of transition period for pre-authorised market data providers to align contracts with RTS on RCB

Suggested considerations

• Review and map internal policies, procedures, and data disclosure practices directly to RTS on RCB criteria for transparency, non-discrimination, and cost-based pricing.
• For market data providers authorised before 23 November 2025: Use the transition period (until 22 August 2026) exclusively to renegotiate and align existing contractual arrangements, including pricing schedules, data packages, and service-level clauses, with RTS requirements.
• Document compliance with RTS across asset classes and distribution channels; cease reliance on withdrawn guidelines.
• Contact ESMA at [email protected] for issues on RTS application or interpretative uncertainties.

What changed

• - Withdrawal of ESMA's previous guidelines on MiFID II/MiFIR market data obligations, effective immediately on 23 February 2026, to avoid overlap with binding rules.
• Full alignment with RTS on RCB, which sets criteria for transparency, non-discrimination, and reasonable commercial basis pricing of market data by trading venues and approved publication...
• Firms must now rely solely on RTS legal text for interpreting data provision, disclosure, and fee structures, without legacy interpretive guidance.