The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) hasunveiled a plan to simplify transaction reporting across the EU, targeting upto €1 billion in annual savings for market participants. The proposalintroduces a “report once” model designed to reduce duplication and improvedata quality used by regulators.Fragmentation Drives CostsTransaction reporting plays a key role in monitoring riskand detecting market abuse. However, ESMA found that overlapping rules underMiFIR, EMIR, and SFTR have created duplication and inconsistent requirements.Firms often submit similar data multiple times, which increases operationalcosts.Verena Ross, ESMA Chair, said: “Transaction reporting iscentral to market transparency, risk monitoring and detecting market abuse.However, over time, fragmentation has led to duplication, inconsistentrequirements and increased costs for market participants and authorities.”You may also like: CySEC Chairman Backs EU Supervision Push, Wants a "Level Playing Field"ESMA also pointed to frequent regulatory changes anddual-sided reporting obligations as key drivers of complexity. The regulator proposes a single integrated reporting system thatallows firms to submit transaction data once. The system would use a modularstructure to reflect different asset classes while enabling authorities toreuse the data across supervisory functions.“Report Once” FrameworkRoss said the approach could “significantly reduce costswhile improving the quality and usability of data for supervisors.”A cost-benefit analysis shows that the model could deliverannual net savings of €250 million to €1 billion. Recurring costs could fall byaround 22% to 24%, with total net benefits reaching up to €4.9 billion over tenyears. ESMA expects implementation costs to be recovered within three to fouryears.Alongside the long-term plan, ESMA proposed interimmeasures. These include expanding delegated reporting, simplifying intragroupexemptions, and removing duplicative requirements.The regulator will now engage with EU institutions on theproposal. The rollout will require legislative changes, phased implementation,and coordination with industry stakeholders on data standards and reportingsystems.European regulators are pushing for stronger centralized supervision as cross-border trading exposes gaps in national oversight. ESMA Chair Verena Ross and CySEC Chairman George Theocharides said that different interpretations of EU rules across member states create inconsistency and risk. Ross noted that firms operating across the bloc face up to 27 supervisory approaches, especially in fast-moving sectors like crypto and artificial intelligence. The push comes as complaints against Cyprus-based brokers rise and regulators tighten rules to curb arbitrage. Both ESMA and CySEC also highlighted crypto and AI as key focus areas, with ongoing efforts to align supervision, expand oversight, and prepare for potential legislative changes at the EU level.This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.