Capital Markets

Equity and fixed income markets are crucial for capital raising and investment. AFME’s work across these asset classes focuses on regulatory and market structure developments and initiatives that support deep, liquid, investible and resilient markets across the UK Europe.

We represent the interests of banks active in primary market issuance and secondary trading, working to ensure that regulatory frameworks promote fair, transparent, and efficient markets that support investor confidence and capital formation, enabling companies to grow and investors to share in their success.

We focus on reducing unnecessary complexity and cost for issuers, underwriters, and advisors, promoting industry standards and developing template documentation where appropriate. We work to improve pre- and post-trade transparency, data quality, and market structures and microstructures. We seek to safeguard the role of our members in their provision of risk intermediation. AFME plays a leading role in shaping frameworks for bond and equity consolidated tapes and appropriately calibrated deferral regimes.

Our policy work is grounded in regular monitoring of market conditions, including trends in issuance and trading costs, helping to inform regulatory discussions with a clear understanding of evolving dynamics on a single asset and cross-asset basis. AFME engages actively with EU and UK authorities to promote coherent rules that avoid unintended market impacts, supporting efficient capital raising and investor access across equity and fixed income markets.

Related documents 

1. AFME and Linklaters have published a MiFID Implementation Guide which aims to help members and the wider industry navigate the implementation issues arising from the evolving EU and UK regulatory landscape. 

Commodity markets are a cornerstone of the global economy, supplying the raw materials that underpin sectors ranging from agriculture and energy to metals and minerals. Their effective operation relies heavily on the involvement of financial institutions, which play a vital role in maintaining market stability, enabling efficient price discovery, managing risk, and supporting broader economic resilience.

AFME focuses on regulatory and market developments impacting banks active in commodity markets. Our work covers both financial and physical commodities and includes carbon markets. AFME promotes a coordinated, bank-focused perspective on evolving EU and UK regulation, ensuring that frameworks support well-functioning, liquid, and resilient markets.

AFME also addresses operational, trading, and infrastructure challenges to ensure banks can continue to play a central role in commodity markets.

Related documents

1. AFME response to EC commodity derivatives markets consultation
2. Joint industry letter on initiating formal ETS negotiations following the EU-UK Summit
3. AFME-FIA response to LME Consultation on Enhancing Liquidity

Efficient post-trade infrastructure underpins cross-border investment and financial stability. AFME’s work on post-trade focuses on creating a harmonised, efficient, and resilient post-trading process for securities transactions in Europe.

We work to improve the processes of clearing, settlement, and custody by reducing operational risk, increasing standardisation, and lowering costs for market participants. AFME advocates for proportionate, coherent regulation and market-led initiatives that promote interoperability and transparency across the post-trade lifecycle.

Our work contributes to the implementation and refinement of key frameworks such as the EU Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR), Target2-Securities (T2S), and broader initiatives under the Savings and Investments Union. We also promote common market standards in areas such as corporate actions and settlement discipline.

AFME engages closely with EU and UK authorities to ensure that post-trade regulation remains effective, proportionate, and aligned with broader market efficiency and stability objectives.

Related documents

1. AFME and AGC letter to ESMA consultation on the review of CSDR Regulatory Technical Standards
2. The Role of the Custody Industry
3. AFME response to the UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce’s consultation on Draft Recommendations Report

Securitisation is a key pillar of the EU’s Savings and Investments Union, as well as being a top priority in the UK’s capital markets reform agenda. 

We advocate for targeted amendments to prudential, conduct and transparency rules which will make the regulatory framework more risk sensitive and supportive of market supply and demand. AFME’s focus is therefore on reinvigorating the European securitisation market so that securitisation can reach its full potential and contribute to economic growth and competitiveness in the EU and the UK.

Read AFME’s recent Myth Busting Series discussing well-known misconceptions about Securitisation

1. Performance of European securitisation over 40 years
2. Perception: Banks should not hold securitisation exposure because it is too risky
3. Liquidity in ABS
4. EU insurance appetite on securitisation
5. Significant Risk Transfer (SRT)

AFME’s work on wholesale investor protection supports the development of liquid and efficient markets that underpin price formation, capital allocation, and investor confidence across asset classes.
 

We are actively engaged in advocacy and implementation across a broad range of MiFID-related priorities, covering both EU and UK frameworks, including the UK Investment Research Review, the EU Listing Act and the EU Retail Investment Strategy. Our work spans inducements, value for money, suitability and appropriateness, client categorisation, best execution, investment research, and the broader investor protection framework.

Investor Protection

1. AFME response to Commission call for evidence on a possible “Recommendation on savings and investment accounts”
2. AFME response to the ESMA call for evidence on the retail investor journey under MiFID II
3. AFME’s recommendations for the EU Retail Investment Strategy (August 2023)
   
   

Investment Research

1. Chapter 6 of our MiFID Implementation Guide
2. Letter to the FCA on corporate access services (March 2025)
3. AFME response to the ESMA consultation on draft RTS on the EU Code of Conduct for issuer sponsored research (March 2025)
4. AFME response to the ESMA Final Report  on Level 2 payment arrangement provisions (January 2025)