ESMA Sets Course for Simpler EU Reporting With Push Toward ‘Report Once’ Model

Key Takeaways

• Reporting Once Principle: ESMA is advancing a model where firms report data a single time, aiming to reduce duplication while improving supervisory effectiveness.
• Single EU Framework for Funds: A unified reporting template and common data standards would replace fragmented national regimes.
• Hybrid Data Model: Data collection remains national, while validation, storage, and analytics move to a centralised EU-level system.
• Transaction Reporting Pain Points: Firms identified overlapping rules, fragmented systems, and unsynchronised updates as key drivers of complexity.

Deep Dive

The European Securities and Markets Authority is untangling one of the more persistent challenges in European financial regulation, how to make reporting simpler without losing the data regulators rely on.

In a pair of reports published Monday, ESMA laid out a coordinated plan to streamline both funds reporting and transaction reporting across the European Union. The work forms part of the regulator’s wider Simplification and Burden Reduction initiative, launched last year to address the growing complexity and cost of compliance tied to overlapping reporting requirements.

At the heart of the effort is a straightforward idea with far-reaching implications. Firms should not have to report the same data multiple times to different authorities. ESMA’s answer is what it describes as a “report once” model, supported by greater harmonisation and stronger data sharing across national regulators.

“The objective is to reduce operational burden for market participants by introducing the principle of ‘reporting once’, while also improving data quality and supervisory effectiveness,” ESMA Chair Verena Ross said. “The data we collect from market participants is and will continue to be central to how ESMA and the NCAs supervise markets.”

Moving Funds Reporting Toward a Single System

The more developed of the two reports focuses on investment funds, where ESMA is proposing a shift away from fragmented national reporting regimes toward a single EU-wide framework.

The proposal centers on a common reporting template, designed to be flexible enough to account for different fund sizes and investment strategies while still meeting supervisory needs. By replacing multiple overlapping templates with one unified structure, ESMA aims to reduce duplication, improve consistency, and make the data more useful for regulators.

Operationally, the model would split responsibilities between national and EU levels. Firms would continue to submit data to national authorities, but validation, storage, and analytics would be handled through a centralised EU system. That shared infrastructure is intended to allow authorities to access and reuse data more efficiently, reducing the need for repeated requests.

The framework would also introduce a common regulatory data dictionary and aligned data definitions, alongside principles governing data granularity, proportionality, and reporting frequency. ESMA positions the system as a core building block for supervisory convergence and EU-wide risk monitoring, particularly under the revised Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and UCITS Directive.

Those revisions, introduced through Directive (EU) 2024/927, require ESMA to develop an integrated reporting system and submit its findings to the European Commission by April 2026. The report published this week sets out the authority’s preferred design and implementation approach, while identifying areas where further technical work and stakeholder engagement will be needed.

Next steps will focus on developing regulatory and implementing technical standards, expected next year, followed by a phased rollout. The first stage will integrate reporting under AIFMD and UCITS, with later phases extending the framework to additional reporting obligations.

Transaction Reporting Still Under Review

Alongside its funds work, ESMA is also examining how to simplify transaction reporting, an area long criticized for its complexity.

An interim report draws on feedback from more than 100 respondents to a previous call for evidence, offering a detailed look at where current frameworks fall short. Market participants pointed to overlapping and inconsistent requirements, fragmented reporting channels, frequent and unsynchronised regulatory changes, and the persistence of dual reporting as major sources of cost and operational strain.

ESMA identifies several potential avenues for reform, including instrument-based approaches, simplification of dual-sided reporting, and, over the longer term, extending the “report once” concept across frameworks such as EMIR, MiFIR, and SFTR.

For now, the regulator is holding off on formal policy recommendations. It plans to carry out a more detailed cost-benefit analysis and continue engaging with stakeholders, including through an open hearing scheduled for May 28, before publishing final recommendations by mid-year.

A Push to Rebalance Efficiency and Oversight

By standardising formats, aligning definitions, and improving how data is shared and reused, ESMA is aiming to reduce the operational burden on firms while strengthening the foundations of market supervision. The integrated reporting framework for funds, in particular, is intended to support everything from day-to-day oversight to EU-level systemic risk assessment.

The direction is simple, even if much of the technical detail still lies ahead. After years of layering new requirements onto existing systems, ESMA is now trying to redraw the architecture itself, with the promise that simpler reporting can still deliver sharper insight.

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