Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite Sized Issue 10 2025

14 QUICK LINKS FINTECH MIFID II/MIFIR OPEN FINANCE SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG T+1 ASIA AUSTRALIA EUROPE NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 10 | 2025 MEPs Keep up Momentum for Draghi Report On 10 September 2025, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted proposals they consider essential to make Europe globally competitive and provide it with the resources to reach this goal. The text follows up on the Draghi report and seeks to maintain pressure towards reaching the objectives of that report. The text warns that if no further actions are taken, Europe will continue lagging, and risk becoming irrelevant, particularly within the current context of geopolitical instability. It also says that there is an intrinsic link between the rule of law, and sustainable and competitive economic growth. Specifically, MEPs call for concrete measures to make financing more available and affordable, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and innovative ventures. To do this they want, among other things, larger venture capital and growth funds, financed in part through transforming personal savings into investments. This should be coupled with an EU strategy for financial literacy, MEPs say. The adopted text also calls for the rapid completion of the banking union, the capital markets union and the savings and investments union. MEPs also want a pan‑EU equity listing and trading environment to encourage start-ups to remain in Europe and call for a reformof corporate taxation. MEPs also make the case that joint borrowing through the issuance of EU bonds presents a viable option to ensure that the EU has sufficient resources to respond to acute Union-wide crises and ask the Commission to advance the discussions on addressing the significant investment gaps in the EU and to present concrete proposals for financing solutions. Link to the Text here ESMA Publishes Report on Trends, Risks and Vulnerabilities No. 2, 2025 On 9 September 2025, ESMA published its second risk monitoring report of 2025, setting out the key risk drivers currently facing EU financial markets. ESMA notes that geopolitical events continue to have a strong impact on the evolution of financial markets. In the first half of 2025 securities markets experienced pronounced volatility as global uncertainties intensified, notably with escalating trade conflicts. Investor risks have also risen in crypto-asset markets, where exuberance has been fuelled by political developments in the US and the emergence of new, high-risk business models. Overall, ESMA sees high, or very high risks in the markets within its remit, and retail and institutional investors should remain alert to potential sharp market corrections, and to the liquidity strains they could entail. Beyond the general risk drivers, ESMA’s report provides an update on structural developments and the status of key sectors of financial markets during the first half of 2025, covering: • Market monitoring, including: – Markets; – Asset management; – Consumers; and – Infrastructures and services. • Structural developments, including: – Market-based finance; – Sustainable finance; and – Financial innovation. Link to Monitoring Report here