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