Stockholm: The European Securities and Markets Authority has moved to calm issuers and investors who rely on third-country CSDs, the central securities depositories established outside the European Union. In a statement published on 7 October 2026, ESMA clarified that EU market participants should not be prevented from using their services after 17 January 2027.
The date matters because the current transitional regime is due to expire then. Under that regime, certain third-country CSDs can provide notary and central maintenance services for financial instruments that were constituted under the law of an EU member state. Without an extension, EU market participants would lose access to those services, and issuers in particular would face operational challenges.
ESMA says the clarification is meant to give certainty until the EU finalises legislation that extends the transitional regime. That legislation sits inside the Market Integration and Supervision Package, known as MISP, which is still under negotiation. ESMA understands that both the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament support an extension, although neither has completed its work.
The statement responds to concerns raised by issuers. Many firms that issue securities under a member state’s law keep them in depositories outside the Union, and they worried that a sudden loss of access would disrupt settlement and record-keeping. By saying that the use of third-country CSDs should not be blocked in the gap before new rules apply, the authority lowers that risk without changing the law itself.
The move fits a broader ESMA agenda. On 28 September the authority published its priorities for 2027, which aim at stronger, simpler and more integrated EU capital markets, and on 23 September it announced a new supervisory priority on digital innovation from 2027. Post-trading rules sit at the centre of the integration debate because fragmented settlement systems raise costs for cross-border investors.
The text does not settle every question. A supervisory statement is not a legal act, and national authorities remain responsible for how they apply it. The clarity it offers depends on the MISP negotiations ending before the January deadline, or at least producing a clear political signal.
Market participants should watch three things in the coming weeks: the progress of the MISP talks, any guidance from national supervisors, and the way issuers adjust their custody arrangements. Until the extension is final, the treatment of third-country CSDs remains a practical test of how quickly the EU can turn its capital markets ambitions into working rules.
