EU Proposed Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets
On 24 September 2020, the European Commission published its proposal on the Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (‘MiCA Regulation’), which shall form part of a wider set of publications on Europe’s Digital Finance Strategy. On 24 November 2021, the European Council published a significantly expanded proposed MiCA Regulation (available here).
The objectives of MiCA Regulation are the following:
- To provide legal certainty for crypto-assets not covered by existing EU financial services legislation;
- To establish uniform rules for crypto-asset service providers and issuers at an EU level; and
- To establish specific rules for the so-called ‘stablecoins’, including when these are e-money.
The proposed MiCA Regulation aims to enhance consumer protection, transparency and governance standards, given the fact that, the AML risks related to cryptos were addressed with the introduction of the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive.
It is expected that, the MiCA Regulation will be formalised within 2022 and EU competent authorities shall need to comply with the provisions of the Regulation which shall be directly applicable in all EU Member States.
Our FiveComply team is always vigilant to provide you with the latest updates on the matter.