Passaportointi
Passaportointi, in the context of European Union financial regulation, refers to the mechanism by which a financial services firm authorized in one EU/EEA member state can provide services or establish operations in other member states without obtaining separate authorization there. It is a fundamental part of the EU’s single market for financial services and applies to sectors such as banking, investment services, insurance, asset management, and payment services.
There are two main forms: freedom to provide services (cross-border service passporting) and freedom of establishment
The regulatory basis for passporting comes from EU directives that govern specific sectors, such as MiFID II
Brexit changed the landscape for UK firms, which largely lost EU passporting rights after 2020 and now
In practice, passporting aims to reduce barriers to cross-border financial trade while maintaining regulatory oversight and