Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

The Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) is a Directorate-General (DG) of the European Commission.^[1][2][3] It is one of the thirty three DGs created and named to reflect their functions.^[3]

Area of competence

The main responsibilities of the Directorate-General FISMA include initiating and implementing EU policy in the areas of banking and finance, including the Capital Markets Union,^[4][5] and corporate reporting and auditing.^[6]

After the 2008 financial crisis, the EU responded with a series of reforms to ensure financial market stability and to enhance the supervision of financial markets.^[7]

The operational role of DG FISMA is to ensure that EU legislation is fully implemented, to monitor the effectiveness of these reforms and to respond to any further financial risks that may become apparent.^[8][9]

Responsibilities

The mission of DG FISMA (Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) is to ensure the stability of the EU financial system, safeguard the interests of savers and investors, combat financial crime, and facilitate accessible capital flow for both businesses and consumers throughout the European Union.^[10]

Cooperation, Supervision, and Enforcement

The Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) achieves its objectives through a combination of legislative and non-legislative tools, fundamentally relying on the TFEU articles (e.g., 49, 56, 63, and 114) to develop and enforce a common regulatory framework—known as the Single Rulebook—for the EU financial system. This legislative work occurs across Level 1 (regulations and directives) and Level 2 (detailed delegated/implementing acts), often prepared in close collaboration with the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs). Furthermore, DG FISMA ensures the correct transposition and application of EU law by Member States, monitors risks in cooperation with bodies like the SSM and ESRB, and plays a critical role in the international financial regulatory agenda (G20, FSB) and the design and supervision of EU sanctions.^[10]

Strategy

DG FISMA's core strategy for the 2020-2024 period was centred on six key objectives:^[10]

1. Market Integration: DG FISMA aims to complete the Capital Markets Union (CMU) through targeted actions to further integrate EU financial markets, enhancing liquidity and opening up vital cross-border funding and investment opportunities for businesses, particularly SMEs, and citizens.
2. Financial Stability & Crime: The Directorate seeks to reinforce financial stability by completing the Banking Union and implementing the final Basel Standards, while simultaneously implementing a comprehensive Action Plan to strengthen supervision and enforcement against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
3. Consumer Protection: DG FISMA is committed to enhancing confidence and protection for retail investors and consumers by developing a Retail Investment Strategy, reviewing directives on payments and credit, and exploring a minimum harmonised framework for insurance guarantee schemes.
4. Sustainable Finance: To support the European Green Deal, DG FISMA will mobilize private capital for sustainable investments by developing EU standards and labels (like the Green Bond Standard and the EU Taxonomy) and revising corporate reporting requirements to drive the transition to a low-carbon economy.
5. Digitalisation: Recognizing the accelerated digital transformation, DG FISMA will propose a Digital Finance Strategy to ensure the EU financial services framework is competitive, inclusive, and robust against cyber risks, including a legislative proposal for the sector’s digital operational resilience.
6. Global Sovereignty: The strategy seeks to strengthen the EU's financial system's sovereignty and competitiveness by promoting the international role of the Euro, enhancing the resilience of financial infrastructure against third-country sanctions, and ensuring consistent enforcement of EU sanctions across Member States.

Key performance indicators

DG FISMA's key performance indicators (KPIs) for the 2020-2024 period primarily targeted increasing financial integration (decreasing home bias and increasing cross-border banking assets), maintaining financial stability (keeping systemic stress and bank capitalisation stable while reducing MREL shortfalls), enhancing market access and protection (increasing IPOs and retail investment while decreasing fund costs), scaling up sustainable investment (increasing green bond issuance and Taxonomy alignment), boosting digital uptake (increasing non-MFI payments and IT spending on innovation while decreasing cyber risk), and strengthening the international role of the Euro and sanctions enforcement.^[10]

Organisation

According to its latest organogram, the DG FISMA is organized into five directorates:^[11]

• FISMA A - General affairs^[12]
• FISMA B - Horizontal policies^[13]
• FISMA C - Financial markets^[14]
• FISMA D - Banking, insurance and financial crime^[15]
• FISMA E - Financial stability, sanctions and enforcement^[16]

In the current legislature period (2019-2024) DG FISMA focuses on the achievement of one of the six top European Commission's political priorities, namely "An economy that works for people".^[17]

Personnel

Maria Luís Albuquerque has been the EU Commissioner for this area since July 2024^[18]; John Berrigan is the Director-General and he manages DG FISMA. David O'Sullivan, the EU's Sanctions Envoy^[19], is based within this DG.^[1]

In 2024 the DG had 375 employees.^[20][21]

See also

• European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union
• Capital Markets Union
• European Coal and Steel Community (EGKS)
• Treaty of Rome
• Single European Act
• World Trade Organization (WTO)