Welcome to the monthly capital markets update, a briefing from our capital markets practice area rounding up the month’s regulatory developments within the equity and debt capital markets and looking ahead to future developments.
Malta Update
There were no updates from a Maltese regulatory perspective for the month of April 2026.
European Union Update
UPDATE NUMBER 04/2026/01
The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) released the updated 2025 ESEF XBRL taxonomy files and Conformance Suite, supporting issuers in preparing their 2026 International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) consolidated financial statements in the European Single Electronic Format (“ESEF”).
The update reflects the introduction of IFRS 18 (Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements), effective from 1 January 2027 (with early adoption permitted). To facilitate transition, the taxonomy allows reporting under both the current International Accounting Standards 1 framework and the new IFRS 18 structure.
ESMA has confirmed that no further updates to the ESEF taxonomy or Regulatory Technical Standards are expected in 2026, in line with the IFRS Foundation’s decision not to issue a 2026 taxonomy update. This is intended to provide regulatory stability and allow sufficient time for implementation.
