Workshop on the EC’s Call for Advice on the MiCA delegated act on significance criteria for ARTs and EMTs

The EBA hosted a virtual Workshop to engage in a transparent discussion with stakeholders regarding the European Commission’s request for technical advice on the delegated act under the MiCA proposal concerning certain criteria for the classification of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and electronic money tokens (EMTs) as significant.

The EBA’s objective was to discuss key issues relating to this call for advice and the potential way forward with participants.

The event will be held on 17 May 2023 from 10:00 to 12:30, as an online interactive Workshop.

The target audience of this Workshop includes primarily actual or potential issuers of ARTs or EMTs, including credit institutions and e-money institutions, and also experts of industry associations or federations and from national competent authorities.

Interested participants should register via this registration link (password: MiCAWorkshop) by 5 May 2023 at 16:00 CEST. The registration confirmation and dial-in details will be provided to participants after the registration deadline.

Agenda (10:00-12:30)

Opening remarks and introduction to the workshop

Session 1: CfA – Indicators of significance of ART/EMT issuer’s activities on international scale outside the EU

Session 2: CfA – Indicators of significance of the interconnectedness of ARTs and EMTs and their issuers with the financial system

Background

In December 2022, the EBA received a Call for Advice from the European Commission on two EC delegated acts under the MiCA proposal, including certain criteria for the classification of ARTs and EMTs as significant. The deadline for the EBA’s response is 30 September 2023.

As set out in the MiCA proposal, in order to address increased risks from significant ARTs or EMTs, the issuers of those tokens must comply with additional obligations and their supervision is partly or fully assigned to the EBA. The EBA will be responsible for carrying out assessments of significance of ARTs and EMTs and will be able to classify them as significant where criteria are met.

While the MiCA proposal lists the quantitative and qualitative criteria that need to be considered for the classification of ARTs and EMTs as significant, it mandates the European Commission to adopt a delegated act to further specify the most relevant indicators of a qualitative and, where possible, quantitative nature, in relation two criteria: the significance of the issuer’s activities on international scale outside the EU, and the interconnectedness of ARTs and EMTs and their issuers with the financial system.