ESMA sets EU-wide AI and tokenization oversight as 2027 supervisory priority
European Union regulators are preparing a coordinated review of how financial firms deploy artificial intelligence and tokenization in investor-facing products and processes from 2027. The new priority adds a cross-border focus on digital innovation as supervisors track emerging uses, test firms’ controls and assess risks tied to complex products and third-party dependencies.
Highlights
- ESMA set AI and tokenization as an EU-wide Union Strategic Supervisory Priority for 2027, requiring regulators to coordinate oversight and build digital expertise.
- EU supervisors will identify and document financial firms’ use of AI and tokenized products, with targeted checks for those most affected and at risk.
- This new digital innovation focus supplements the ongoing USSP on cyber resilience (launched 2025) and replaces the soon-to-close ESG disclosure priority.
Supervisory plan for digital innovation
As reported by Cointelegraph, citing ESMA, the new Union Strategic Supervisory Priority is designed to help national regulators build expertise and develop common approaches as financial firms expand their use of AI and tokenized products.Across the European Union, supervisors will identify where tokenization is emerging and document how firms use, or plan to use, AI and tokenization in products and processes that directly affect investors. They also conduct initial checks on a subset of the firms seen as most affected.
ESMA uses the USSP framework to coordinate national regulators on risks that require attention across the bloc. Its factsheet highlights biased or misleading AI outputs, products that investors may struggle to understand, and reliance on a limited number of third-party providers as key risks to watch.
Implications for EU financial firms
Every three years, ESMA identifies up to two supervisory priorities that are relevant across the EU and reflect emerging developments and trends. Under the new initiative, supervisors also plan to examine what firms tell investors about emerging technologies and share examples of innovations that improve investor outcomes, reduce bias and ensure reliable results.The AI and tokenization priority runs alongside an existing USSP on cyber and operational resilience, which launched in 2025. ESMA is also closing a separate priority on environmental, social and governance disclosures this year, shifting more of its coordinated supervisory attention toward digital innovation in financial services.
In our earlier article on AI agent security in enterprises, we explained that AI agents are emerging as a new identity class inside corporate environments, which increases the need for tighter governance over permissions, monitoring, and authorization. We also noted that the AI security market is breaking into specialized control layers—covering agent identity, data controls, prompts, and auditability—rather than forming one single, broad category.
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