Financial regulators across Europe imposed EUR 81.9 million (about $92 million) in administrative fines in 2025, 18% less than in 2024. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the figures today (Thursday).Its third annual sanctions report counted 955 sanctions and measures by national authorities, close to the 975 recorded a year earlier. A growing share of the money came through settlements.London's trading industry is coming home!For brokers and other investment firms, the money sits in a few places. Fines under MiFID II, the EU rulebook for investment firms, totaled EUR 36.6 million, and Germany, France and Cyprus accounted for 80% of that sum, according to the report.Germany alone accounted for 61% of that money with 8% of the actions, according to an FM Intelligence analysis of the ESMA data, which found Cyprus was the only country to ban people or remove licenses under those rules.The report lands a week after EU finance ministers agreed to move only the largest crypto firms, trading venues and clearing houses under direct ESMA supervision, leaving most enforcement with national authorities.ESMA Asks for More Consistent EnforcementESMA said the report highlights "significant differences in enforcement" between countries, in the number and type of sanctions, the size of fines and the use of settlements. It called for stronger convergence where low enforcement activity cannot be explained by the size of a national market.George Theocharides, chairman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), said in June that a single market needs a level playing field as more trading crosses borders."Supervisory effectiveness ultimately depends on market participants' compliance with the rules," ESMA said in a statement.The authority said it will keep running case discussions among national supervisors so that similar breaches lead to similar outcomes.The push will pass to new leadership on November 1, when Carlo Comporti, a commissioner at Italian markets regulator Consob, succeeds Verena Ross as ESMA chair.Germany's Two Largest Fines Were SettledOf EUR 83.8 million in pecuniary sanctions, which include fines and the return of illicit profits, EUR 35.6 million, or 42%, came through settlement procedures. In 2024 the share was slightly above 20%.By number, 153 of the 955 measures were settled, or 16%, up from about 10%.Germany imposed two fines of EUR 7.4 million each through settlement for breaches of MiFID II organizational requirements. ESMA did not name the firm or firms.Together the pair made up 40% of MiFID II fine value across the European Economic Area (EEA). Under MiFID II as a whole, 75% of the pecuniary value was settled, compared with 35% in 2024.Three Countries Collected Two-Thirds of the FinesGermany imposed EUR 23.4 million in fines, France EUR 17.8 million and Spain EUR 12.5 million. Together they held 66% of the EEA total, up from 57% a year earlier.Counts point elsewhere. Hungary imposed the most sanctions and measures, 189, of which 85 were cease-and-desist orders, followed by Italy with 111 and Czechia with 70. Lithuania imposed none.Cyprus, home to 20% of the firms passporting investment services to other member states, reported 34 measures under MiFID II and EUR 2.6 million in fines. Those included all nine temporary bans, suspensions and withdrawals of authorization recorded under MiFID II in 2025.FinanceMagnates.com reported last year that Cyprus-based firms served about a third of EU cross-border retail clients in 2024. ESMA's latest cross-border data, published a day before the sanctions report, put the total at about 15.5 million clients.Ireland has issued no MiFID II sanctions since 2018. The Central Bank of Ireland told ESMA it has sanctioned firms under the earlier MiFID I rules for obligations that continue today.First Penalties Under the Crypto RulebookThe year brought the first sanctions under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Authorities in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and the Netherlands imposed 10 measures, including one fine of EUR 600,000 in Germany and one withdrawal of authorization.Most concerned firms offering crypto services without the required authorization. Authorized crypto-asset service providers grew from six in 2024 to 194 in May 2026, ESMA said, and a FinanceMagnates.com count of its register found 323 active entities by mid-August, 22% of them in Germany.Cases against licensed firms fall into next year's data. In August, Austria's regulator published its first MiCA penalty order, a EUR 70,000 fine on Bitpanda over marketing and white paper breaches.The report covers only breaches of EU acts in ESMA's remit. Anti-money laundering sanctions and penalties under purely national law are not included.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.