Back to regulators

Belgium · EU member

Financial Services and Markets Authority

FSMA · Financial supervisory authorityMeasured

Brusselswww.fsma.be
67Activity Indexmethodology →

Employees

370

FY2024

Annual budget

€112.4m

FY2024

Supervised entities

100 institutions · 17,811 intermediaries

FY2024

Overview

Belgium splits supervision down the middle: the FSMA handles conduct, markets, and consumer protection, while prudential supervision — and the licensing of banks, payment firms, and CASPs — sits with the National Bank of Belgium. What the FSMA lacks in licensing volume it makes up in supervisory reach: 5,819 AML audits, 114 mystery-shopping visits, and a value-for-money programme that pulled 78 insurance products off the market. Everything below is the FSMA's own data, from its FY2024 annual report.

Related authority

National Bank of Belgium (NBB) →

Prudential counterpart — licenses banks, payment firms and CASPs.

Regulated sectors

Investment firmsAsset managersSecurities marketsListed companiesPension fundsInsurance intermediaries

Leadership

  • Jean-Paul ServaisChairman · since 2011
  • Annemie RomboutsVice-Chair

Full board →

Figures as published by Financial Services and Markets Authority for FY2024. Source: FSMA Annual Report 2024 (English) (Published October 2025). Data as of 31 December 2024. Supplementary: Comptes annuels de l'exercice 2024 (FR).

Organisation

Belgium's Twin Peaks split places prudential supervision with the NBB and conduct/markets supervision with the FSMA (in force since 2011). Both are AML supervisors for their respective supervised populations. FSMA is a standalone supervisory body with no monetary policy or currency functions.

ItemValue
Headcount (annual report)
370
Supervisory authority only — clean basis
Actual FTE at end-2024
339
Gap vs headcount reflects part-time working
Authorised FTE ceiling
399
Excludes certain categories and has not been revised for competences added to the FSMA after 2014, including audit-firm supervision
Operating cost budget FY2024
€112,373,000
Building financing (separate)
€3,122,000
Indexed ceiling for expenses and charges
€21,267,000
Base €11m, indexed for CPI and staff growth
Balance sheet total
€80,226,000
Result
Surplus of €7,907,000

Supervised universe at 31 December 2024

Separately reported: 148 IORPs governed by Belgian law at end-2024 (150 in 2023), balance sheet total €48.9bn, 2.66 million members.

ItemValue
Credit institutions, insurers and stockbroking firms under Belgian law
100
Listed companies
160
Belgian pension funds (IORPs)
138
Registered intermediaries
17,811
People with a Belgian pension plan
4.47 million

Supervisory activity 2024

ItemValue
Entities audited for AML/CFT compliance
5,819
Advertisements reviewed
2,654 (994 files; 1,746 comment emails sent)
Intermediary files checked for registration compliance
6,435
Intermediaries struck off the register
317
Warnings published
297, covering 396 fraudulent websites
Foreign warnings republished (via ESMA)
847
Agreed settlements approved
22, totalling €1,906,195
New cases opened that could lead to administrative fines
38
Market abuse analyses launched
52; trading suspended 24 times
Whistleblower reports received
274
Consumer messages received
4,128 (2,853 fraud-related)
Consumer fraud reports in scope
2,621
+20% on 2023, a record
Managers' transaction notifications
1,236
Mystery shopping visits
114
Currency exchange office inspections
8, yielding 52 orders and 7 recommendations
Fraudulent websites blocked via public prosecutor
363
Bankers who swore the oath at the FSMA
~500

Market context 2024

ItemValue
Household holdings in funds vs regulated savings accounts
€303bn (funds) vs €274bn (regulated savings) — funds exceeded regulated savings for the first time
Term account holdings
€63bn (2024), up from under €5bn in 2021
Belgian public open-ended UCI net assets
€232bn, a record, +14% YoY
Belgian public UCIs and sub-funds
98 UCIs; 5,316 sub-funds registered
SFDR classification (by fund net assets)
74% Article 8; ~1% Article 9
Investment fraud losses reported
€16,821,894 in 2024, averaging €29,743 per victim
Cumulative reported losses since May 2019: approximately €100m

Value-for-money supervision

234 insurance products examined across 2023–2024 — distinctive to FSMA.

ItemValue
Withdrawn from market
78
Fees reduced
141
Coverage extended
1
Found compliant
10
Governed by another Member State
4

Key legislation

  • Act of 2 August 2002

    Foundational Act on financial supervision

  • Act of 2 May 2007

    Disclosure of major holdings in listed companies

  • Twin Peaks Act of 2 July 2010

    Split of prudential (NBB) vs conduct (FSMA) supervision

  • Law of 25 October 2016

    AML supervision of FSMA-regulated intermediaries

Public registers

Application portals

Recent publications

Data as of 31 December 2024 · Source: www.fsma.be + ComplyBridge researchActivity Index methodology →

Ready to Transform Your Compliance?

Measure the Impact from Day One

Talk to Sales