ESMA ‘report once’ — merging MiFIR, EMIR and SFTR
On 2 July 2026 ESMA set out its plan to collapse three separate transaction-reporting regimes — MiFIR, EMIR and SFTR — into a single “report once” template, with a target of the second half of 2031 and up to €1 billion a year in estimated savings. The final report is not law, but it is the clearest signal yet of where EU transaction reporting is heading: one modular data model, one submission, one supervisory source of truth. This piece explains what ESMA proposed, the near-term relief on the table, the realistic timeline, and what reporting firms should be doing now.
1. What ESMA published
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued, on 2 July 2026, its final report on the call for evidence for a comprehensive simplification of financial transaction reporting. It is a set of recommendations to the EU legislator — the European Commission, Parliament and Council — not binding rules. But it commits ESMA to a direction of travel: replacing the current sector-by-sector reporting frameworks with a single integrated system.
The three frameworks in scope are:
- MiFIR — Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 — transaction reporting on financial instruments
- EMIR — Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 — derivative-contract reporting to trade repositories
- SFTR — Regulation (EU) 2015/2365 — securities-financing-transaction reporting
2. The “report once” idea
ESMA chose the most ambitious of the options it consulted on: a move to “report once”. A single, modular data structure would carry a transaction’s details once, flexing to reflect the specifics of each instrument type, instead of the overlapping MiFIR, EMIR and SFTR submissions firms file today.
Getting there is a large technology and governance programme: a common data model, unified submission channels and validation, and robust rules on who governs and accesses the data.
3. The near-term measures
Because the integrated model is years away, ESMA pairs it with a set of shorter-term measures to cut operational burden on the current regimes and ease the transition. The headline items are:
- Single-sided reporting for EMIR and SFTR — letting one counterparty report on behalf of both, reducing bilateral duplication
- Shorter back-reporting window — cutting the period in which authorities can require corrections to already-submitted reports from five years to three
- Simplified intragroup requirements
- Excluding low-value transactions from transaction reporting where they add little to market-abuse supervision
- De-prioritising certain optional fields in transaction reporting and in the FIRDS reference-data feed (the Financial Instruments Reference Data System)
- Revised EMIR reconciliation to screen out non-material field discrepancies
- A simpler EMIR error-and-omission notification regime
- Excluding certain securities-financing transactions from SFTR reporting
4. The three regimes today, at a glance
| Regime | Regulation | What it captures | Reported to |
|---|---|---|---|
| MiFIR | (EU) No 600/2014 | Transactions in financial instruments (market-abuse supervision) | National competent authorities |
| EMIR | (EU) No 648/2012 | Derivative contracts (systemic-risk oversight) | Trade repositories |
| SFTR | (EU) 2015/2365 | Repos, securities lending and other SFTs | Trade repositories |
The three overlap on entities, instruments and data — which is exactly the duplication “report once” is designed to remove. For the country-level mechanics of MiFIR transaction reporting as they stand, see our pieces on MiFIR reporting in Italy, the Netherlands and France.
5. Realistic timeline
The integrated “report once” model is not imminent. ESMA’s own path depends on a chain of dependencies: Level 1 legislative change (the co-legislators must amend the underlying regulations), then Level 2 technical templates, then IT build, then a market-implementation period of roughly 12 to 18 months. On that basis, a fully integrated solution is realistic towards the second half of 2031. The near-term measures can arrive sooner, as and when the relevant instruments are amended.
6. What this changes for reporting firms
Nothing changes on the day the report is published — current MiFIR, EMIR and SFTR obligations continue unchanged. But the direction is now set, and firms that treat reporting as three siloed pipelines will face the biggest retooling later. The strategic response is to move toward a single internal transaction-data model now, so that a future “report once” submission is a mapping exercise rather than a rebuild.
7. FAQ
Is “report once” now law?
No. The 2 July 2026 document is ESMA’s final report and recommendations to the EU institutions. Turning it into binding rules requires Level 1 legislative change followed by Level 2 technical standards.
When would a single template actually go live?
ESMA points to the second half of 2031 for a fully integrated solution, given the legislative, technical and IT dependencies and a 12–18 month implementation window.
What can firms benefit from sooner?
The near-term measures — single-sided EMIR/SFTR reporting, a shorter three-year back-reporting window, lighter intragroup and reconciliation requirements — can land ahead of the integrated model as the underlying rules are amended.
Which regulations are affected?
MiFIR (Regulation (EU) No 600/2014), EMIR (Regulation (EU) No 648/2012) and SFTR (Regulation (EU) 2015/2365).
8. What to do, today
- Read the current pipelines against each other — map where MiFIR, EMIR and SFTR already ask for the same data.
- Build toward a single internal transaction-data model so a future “report once” submission is a mapping, not a rebuild.
- Plan to exploit the near-term relief (single-sided reporting, three-year back-reporting) as soon as the instruments are amended.
- Keep the 2031 horizon in your reporting roadmap — this is a multi-year programme, not a patch.
Related: MiFIR reporting in Italy · MiFIR reporting in the Netherlands · MiFIR reporting in France · MiFID II best execution, refreshed · How a MiFIR report is built
