Europe’s financial markets form one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated ecosystems, centered around the European Union (EU) and extending to non-EU countries like the UK, Switzerland, and Norway. They handle equities, bonds, derivatives, currencies, commodities, and alternative assets, with a total market capitalization exceeding €30 trillion (equities + bonds). The markets are regulated by a mix of EU-wide rules (e.g., MiFID II, EMIR) and national authorities, post-Brexit creating a fragmented but interconnected landscape.