2014 was a very active year for financial regulation in the European Union (EU). There was a push to finalise much of the outstanding primary legislation on the regulatory reform agenda in advance of the European Parliamentary elections in May 2014. This resulted in the adoption of many EU Regulations and Directives in the first half of the year. However, much still remains in the in-box of EU legislators and regulators. Most of the legislation that has been adopted envisages a significant amount of further legislation and rulemaking regulation in the form of delegated regulations to be adopted by the EU Commission, much of it to comprise regulatory technical standards (RTS) and implementing technical standards (ITS) to be drafted by the European Supervisory Authorities (the ESAs), being the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Banking Authority (the EBA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority (EIOPA). Therefore, even though the EU regulatory reform programme is now beginning the transition from legislation to implementation, a lot remains on the regulatory agenda into 2015 and beyond (with some measures not due to be implemented until 2025).

We have set out below a summary of some of the main developments during 2014 and the likely key areas of activity during 2015.