EBA and ESMA consult on two sets of Joint Guidelines on suitability assessments of the management body and holders of qualifying holdings under MiCAR

The European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) today published a Consultation Paper on two draft Joint Guidelines covering suitability assessment of members of the management body, and suitability of shareholders and members with qualifying holdings of issuers of asset referenced tokens (ARTs) and of crypto-asset service provider (CASPs). The guidance will provide clarity and harmonisation with respect to the criteria to assess the suitability of the management body, the shareholders and members with qualifying holdings, thus reducing the risk of arbitrage in the application of the rules. The consultation runs until 22 January 2024.

To foster and protect the integrity of the market in crypto assets and related services and to promote trust, it is important to ensure that the members of the management body of issuers of ART’s and CASPs as well as the persons that hold or wish to acquire qualifying holdings in them are suitable.

The draft Joint Guidelines on the suitability assessment of the members of the management body of issuers of ARTs and CASPs provide common criteria to assess the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience of members of the management body as well as their good repute, honesty and integrity and if they are able to commit sufficient time to perform their duties.

The draft Joint Guidelines on the suitability assessment of shareholders or members, whether direct or indirect, with qualifying holdings in issuers of ARTs or CASPs provide competent authorities common methodology to assess the suitability of the shareholders and members with direct or indirect qualifying holdings for purposes of granting authorisation as issuers of ARTs or as CASPs, and for carrying out the prudential assessment of proposed acquisitions.

Consultation process

Comments to this consultation can be sent to the EBA by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the consultation page. The deadline for the submission of comments is 22 January 2024.

A virtual public hearing on the consultation paper will take place on 11 January from 9:30 to 13:30 CET. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register using this link by 9 January 2024 at 16:00 CET. The dial-in details will be communicated to those who have registered for the meeting.

The EBA will inform ESMA of all the comments received. All received contributions will be published at the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise.

Background

The EBA and ESMA have received two joint mandates under MiCA to issue respectively (i) guidelines on the assessment of the suitability of the members of the management body of issuers of ARTs and of the shareholders and members, whether direct or indirect, that have qualifying holdings in issuers of ARTs in accordance with Article 21(3), and (ii) guidelines on the assessment of the suitability of the members of the management body of the CASP and of the shareholders or members, whether direct or indirect, that have qualifying holdings in the CASP in accordance with Article 63(11).