As a supervisory authority, the FSMA strives to ensure the honest and equitable treatment of financial consumers.

It aims at the fair and orderly operation and the transparency of the financial markets by ensuring that listed companies provide correct and complete information.

The FSMA, alongside the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), supervises the Belgian financial sector.

The FSMA verifies that the company information is complete, gives a faithful image and is made available in a timely manner.

This means, among other things, the provision of correct information, an appropriate management of potential conflicts of interest and best execution of clients' instructions.

Specifically: The FSMA is responsible for supervising a wide range of financial service providers who are in direct contact with clients: In due course, a decision will be taken on whether the FSMA should also be responsible for supervising financial planners, intermediaries that offer mortgage loans and institutions that provide consumer credit.

In details shareholders are required to notify their holdings to the FSMA when their stake exceeds or falls below certain thresholds.

Issuers having shares admitted to trading on a regulated market, for which Belgium is the home member state can stipulate additional notification thresholds, on the basis of article 18 of the law of 2 May 2007.

Finally, the FSMA has signed numerous bilateral and multilateral collaboration agreements with fellow supervisory authorities.