On 20 October 2023, the EBA and ESMA published a consultation paper on two sets of draft Joint Guidelines covering the suitability assessment of members of the management body, and the suitability of shareholders and members with qualifying holdings of issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
The guidance is intended to clarify and harmonise the criteria for assessing suitability of members of the management body and of the shareholders or members with qualifying holdings of issuers of ARTs and CASPs, with the aim of reducing the risk of regulatory arbitrage in the application of these rules and promoting trust in and preserving the integrity of crypto-asset markets.
The draft guidelines, required under Articles 21(3) and 63(11) of MiCA, are contained in chapters 4 and 5 of the consultation paper.
Suitability assessment of members of the management body
The draft Joint Guidelines on the suitability assessment of the members of the management body of issuers of ARTs and CASPs set out common criteria to assess such person's appropriate knowledge, skills and experience as well as their good repute, honesty, and integrity and if they are able to commit sufficient time to perform their duties.
Suitability of shareholders and members with qualifying holdings
The second set of draft Joint Guidelines provides competent authorities with common methodology to assess the suitability of the shareholders and members with direct or indirect qualifying holdings as part of the process for granting authorisation as issuers of ARTs or as CASPs and for carrying out the prudential assessment of proposed acquisitions.
The consultation runs until 22 January 2024.
For further information on MiCA please see our August 2023 update here and our recent MiCA articles here and here.
For further information on the draft Guidelines, please see ESMA's press release and the EBA press release.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
