ESMA: CFD Share of EU Cross-Border Retail Holdings Falls to 6.7%

ESMA data show contracts for difference (CFDs) accounted for 6.7% of reported product holdings among Europe's cross-border retail investment clients in 2025, down from 11% in the previous report. The European Securities and Markets Authority's latest annual report shows CFD client numbers dipping to 1.3 million, falling behind tokenised assets offered by traditional banks.

ESMA report tracks cross-border services under freedom-to-provide-services regime

The report tracks services provided across EU and EEA borders under the freedom-to-provide-services regime. It excludes firms' domestic clients and business done through local branches, and firms only had to report if they served more than 50 retail clients in a host country.

The overall cross-border retail investment market picked up about five million reported clients in 2025, with the total rising from 10.5 million to 15.5 million. Shares remained the most widely held product, with cross-border clients increasing to 7.3 million from 4.6 million a year earlier. Their share of reported holdings rose from about 36% to 38.9%.

UCITS funds came second, growing from 3.9 million to six million clients. They now make up 32% of reported holdings, compared with 30% in 2024.

MiCA-regulated crypto-assets also moved ahead of CFDs within ESMA's reporting scope, with nearly 1.6 million clients and an 8.4% share. That figure only covers crypto products offered by traditional investment firms and credit institutions; standalone crypto-asset service providers are left out, so it reflects just part of the European market.

Execution services were provided to 87% of active clients, making it a primary cross-border business model, according to the report. Portfolio management was offered to 11% of active clients, while only 0.8% received investment advice.

ESMA rounds its product figures, so the implied loss of around 100,000 CFD clients is an estimate. The totals do not necessarily count unique individuals, as one person might use several foreign firms or appear in more than one product category, for example by holding both shares and funds. The figures therefore show where reported cross-border client numbers grew, but they do not show whether individual customers actually moved from CFDs into other products.