Carsten Ostermann, Head of the Markets and Digital Innovation Department at European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) Biography

Carsten joined ESMA in 2012, became Team Leader for Secondary Markets in 2014 and Head of the Trading Unit in 2019. Currently he is the Head of the newly established Markets and Digital Innovation Department.

The Department is responsible for developing technical measures and supervisory convergence in the EU for secondary markets, market integrity, short selling, post-trading and settlement and commodity derivative issues. The Department is also covering implementation and convergence in the EU for crypto markets and digital operational resilience plus other files in the area of digital innovation.

Prior to joining ESMA, Carsten was a seconded expert at the European Commission. He also served as a policy officer in the German Ministry of Finance and Germany’s financial regulator BaFin. Before joining the public sector, Carsten was a consultant for a consultancy in London. He holds a German law degree and an LL.M. in international law and is qualified as a lawyer in Germany and as a solicitor in England and Wales.