Carlo Comporti confirmed as ESMA chair as EU finance ministers back capital markets reform position
EU finance ministers at the Ecofin meeting on Friday backed the Council's position on a reform that gives ESMA more power. The same day, Italy's Carlo Comporti was confirmed as ESMA chair and Spain's Carlos San Basilio was elected to its executive committee.
Comporti named to lead ESMA
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced on Friday 9 October 2026 that the Council of the EU had confirmed Carlo Comporti as its new chair. Comporti replaces Germany's Verena Ross, who leaves the post on 31 October according to La Vanguardia, El Confidencial and Europa Press, while SAPO gives 1 November as the date he starts. Comporti has been a commissioner at Italy's market regulator Consob since 2022. He has also sat on ESMA's management board and its Board of Supervisors, chaired the authority's permanent committee on digital finance, and served on the board of IOSCO. Before entering public supervision, he was CEO of Promontory Italy and COO of Promontory Europe. Comporti described ESMA as playing a "critical role" in ensuring the development and integration of European markets, supporting companies, investors and citizens.
San Basilio joins the executive committee
Carlos San Basilio, who has chaired Spain's CNMV since December 2024, was elected by ESMA's Board of Supervisors to its six-member executive committee, taking the seat that Comporti vacates. His mandate runs until the end of September 2029 and can be renewed for two and a half years, according to the CNMV and Europa Press, although El Confidencial gives 20 September 2029 as the end date. The CNMV called the appointment important for the transition to the new governance model.
It is of particular importance, since it will help pilot the migration to the new governance model of the European securities markets supervisory authority.
The other executive committee members are Thorsten P\u00f6tzsch of BaFin (Germany), Armi Taipale of Finanssivalvonta (Finland), Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani of AFM (France), Christopher P. Buttigieg of MFSA (Malta) and Peter Tk\u00e1\u010d of NBS (Slovakia). According to SAPO, Spain now sits on ESMA's board alongside Germany, France, Malta, Slovakia and Finland. San Basilio also chairs ESMA's Investor and Markets Standing Committee (IMSC), El Confidencial reports.
Council backs capital markets reform position
Finance ministers backed the Council's position on a reform that gives ESMA more power and a larger role in supervising crypto-asset service providers. El Pa\u00eds reports that most ministers argued the EU has advanced further in the past 10 months on capital markets integration than in the previous 10 years. The Commission launched the package in December 2025, and the reform has lost considerable scope in negotiations among member states. The Council position now becomes the basis for talks with the European Parliament, which must also set its position, after which the two co-legislators negotiate with each other. Reports by former Italian prime ministers Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi pointed to this reform as central to relaunching the European economy, El Pa\u00eds notes.
- Carlos San Basilio becomes CNMV chair
- Commission proposes the capital markets integration package
- Ecofin approves Council position; Comporti confirmed as ESMA chair
- Comporti is due to replace Verena Ross at ESMA
- San Basilio's executive committee mandate ends unless renewed
Commission criticism
Commissioner for Financial Services Maria Lu\u00eds Albuquerque told finance ministers that the Commission regrets the outcome, and her remarks were sharp.
We deeply regret that the agreement now proposed falls well short of the level of ambition needed to meet the objectives of the package of measures on market integration and supervision.
Albuquerque also said that several central parts of the agreement move significantly away from the objectives of the package the Commission proposed in December. Her criticism reflects a gap between the Council's position and the Commission's original proposal, which has been narrowed during negotiations.
Wider context
La Vanguardia reports that the ESMA leadership change leaves Germany without the presidency of a European body while Berlin prepares its succession battle for Christine Lagarde at the European Central Bank. Berlin has yet to formalise a candidate for the ECB post. The ESMA changes also come as the authority moves toward a much larger role as a continental supervisor, with cross-border market supervision handled at European level under the Savings and Investment Union. The creation of a European macro-supervisor is also on the Ecofin agenda on Friday.
