ESMA Publishes Q&As on Financial Markets, MiCA, CCPs, and Transparency

ESMA News

Published February 27th, 2026

Detected February 28th, 2026

Summary

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published updated Questions and Answers documents covering various EU financial market regulations. These Q&As provide clarifications on topics including crowdfunding, Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), OTC derivatives, central counterparties (CCPs), and the Transparency Directive.

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What changed

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released updated and new Questions and Answers (Q&As) documents to clarify several EU financial market regulations. The updates cover European crowdfunding service providers, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) concerning crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), OTC derivatives and central counterparties (CCPs) under EMIR, and the Transparency Directive, including clarifications on IFRS 18 and Alternative Performance Measures (APMs).

These Q&As are intended to provide guidance and ensure consistent application of the regulations across the EU. While non-binding, they offer important insights for regulated entities, particularly those involved in crowdfunding, crypto-asset services, derivatives trading, and financial reporting. Compliance officers should review the specific Q&As relevant to their operations to ensure adherence to ESMA's interpretations and guidance, especially noting that some Transparency Directive Q&As have effective dates of January 1, 2027.

Source document (simplified)

New Q&As available

CCP Digital Finance and Innovation Financial reporting Issuer disclosure Transparency 27/02/2026 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's securities markets regulator, has published or updated the following Questions and Answers:

European crowdfunding service providers for business

Use of fiduciary (nominee) structures in equity crowdfunding (2601)

Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)

OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories (EMIR) – CCPs

AAR threshold calculation (2418)
AAR representativeness obligation (2776)
AAR representativeness obligation (2777)
AAR stress testing (2778)
AAR threshold calculation (2779)

Transparency Directive

New Q&A (effective from 1 January 2027):

Q&A on the interaction of IFRS 18 & APMs Guidelines (2775)
Updated Q&As (amendments effective from 1 January 2027):
Measures presented simultaneously inside and outside financial statements (1868)
Interim financial statements (1874)
Concept of prominence (1875)
Definition of an APM (1877)
▸ Questions and Answers section

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