The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) together with the National Competent Authorities (NCAs), today published findings of an analysis of the cross-border provision of investment services during 2023.
The distribution of firms by home Member State is found to be relatively skewed. Out of the 30 EU/EEA countries, Cyprus, Luxembourg, and Germany accounted for about 50% of the 386 firms, being home to 78, 59 and 55 firms respectively. This is broadly consistent with the number of firms homed in these jurisdictions in previous years (they accounted for 52% of all firms in 2022).
CySEC reported in 2023 eleven (11) firms less than in 2022 (78 vs. 89 firms), while CSSF reported in 2023 three (3) firms less than in 2022 (59 vs. 62 firms). Germany, in the third place, reported six (6) more firms in 2023 compared to 2022 (55 vs. 49 firms).
In terms of annual change, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, and France reported the largest decreases in terms of firm numbers between 2022 and 2023 (a fall of 11, 11 and 9 firms respectively between the two reporting years).
Compared to 2022, the cross-border market for investment services in the EU/EEA formally grew by 1.6% in terms of firm numbers, by 5% in terms of retail clients’ number, while the number of complaints increased by 31%.
Three (3) jurisdictions reported no firms with cross-border activity (HR, RO, SI), while seventeen (17) other jurisdictions reported less than ten (10) firms with cross-border activity (1-9 firms each).
Similar to 2022, investment firms dominate the market for cross-border provision of investment services (56% investment firms versus 44% credit institutions).
Τhe average number of cross-border clients per firm is about 20,700 clients. Four jurisdictions (LT, IE, HU, LV) reported on average more than 60,000 clients per firm, while accounting for only 4% of all EU/EEA firms with cross-border activity.
Countries with significant cross-border activity also recorded higher numbers of complaints. Firms based in Germany (35%) and Cyprus (24%) received the majority of complaints pertaining to cross-border investment services in 2023.
