EU Eyes Year-End Savings Drive and Crypto Oversight Boost Under ESMA

The European Union is mapping out a year-end initiative to supercharge household savings and reinforce financial oversight, a move that could see its Paris-based markets regulator take on broader authority over crypto firms.

Speaking Thursday at the Eurofi Forum in Copenhagen, Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque outlined a “Savings and Investments Union” aimed at easing cross-border trading and making pension plans more accessible through auto-enrolment and tax perks. The package would also explore shifting key supervisory responsibilities for central counterparties, securities depositories, and trading venues to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Albuquerque said a more centralized approach could especially benefit “new and rapidly evolving areas where supervisory capacities need to be up to the task, such as Crypto Asset Service Providers.” She stressed that national regulators would remain involved, framing the plan as joint oversight designed to curb cross-border risk and tighten enforcement consistency across the bloc.

Her comments followed former ECB President Mario Draghi’s warning earlier this week that Europe risks “falling behind the speed of global financial change,” a critique that has intensified calls to deepen EU capital markets.

The timing also overlaps with Europe’s debate over a potential digital euro, with policymakers weighing public blockchain options like Ethereum or Solana—an issue Albuquerque avoided but tied to the broader goal of financial competitiveness.

“Pensions are inherently long-term and powerful drivers of capital market development,” she said, emphasizing that stronger retirement systems can create a “virtuous cycle of investment” to channel citizen savings into Europe’s economic future.