How to keep up with the nitty gritty details of MiCA’s draft Standards and Guidelines
XReg’s new tool gives a bird’s eye view of what’s been published by the European Supervisory Authorities and what is yet to come.
Further to the Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) Regulation’s entry into force in June 2023, countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) are laying the groundwork to implement and start applying the legal text. To support the relevant authorities and the companies that are captured by MiCA, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) are in the process of preparing and publishing legal instruments called Regulatory Technical Standards (RTSs), Implementing Technical Standards (ITSs), and Guidelines.
These level 2 and level 3 measures supplement MiCA’s legal text and intend to set out how requirements should be applied and complied with.
- An RTS intends to supplement or amend EU law and will provide detailed information on how certain provisions of a legal text should be applied.
- An ITS intends to ensure that the law is applied consistently throughout the Union and sets out the forms or templates that should be used to apply the legal text.
- Guidelines serve a similar purpose to ITSs, to ensure that rules are applied consistently. Although they are not legally binding, all relevant stakeholders are required to make every effort to comply with the Guidelines.
MiCA’s Standards and Guidelines cover a plethora of topics ranging from internal governance arrangements to liquidity management and stress testing.
Before Standards or Guidelines are adopted, the EBA and ESMA consult national experts and other stakeholders. Consultation periods are a good opportunity for industry to share knowledge and provide feedback to ensure that the Standards adopted are fit for purpose and cause as few unintended consequences as possible.
The following timeline outlines MiCA’s key implementation and consultation dates.
To access an overview of the draft Standards and Guidelines that have been or will be published by the EBA and ESMA for consultation, visit XReg’s MiCA Standards and Guidelines Tracker.
Editor’s Note: Photo amended on 16 February 2024 following newly released information.
