This article explores
some major institutional challenges emerging from the recent developments of
the European Union (EU) financial supervisory framework. In particular, it
first examines the evolution of the financial supervisory architecture since
the creation of the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and the
establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). It then gives an
appraisal of the 2019 reform of the ESAs, highlighting the key achievements
attained as well as its shortcomings. It then analyses some recent sectoral
legislative developments which have significantly broadened the supervisory
mandate of the ESAs, in particular of the European Securities and Markets
Authority (ESMA). The article finally examines the Market in Crypto-Assets
Regulation (MiCAR), and the emergence of new supervisory models, before
concluding with a discussion of the challenges associated with the observed
institutional evolution of the EU financial supervisory framework, with a
selected focus on the overall coherence of the system, the institutional and
constitutional balance, and future prospects and reforms.