ESMA Responds To EU Commission's Proposed Amendments To MiCA Regulations

According to Foresight News, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a document responding to the European Commission's proposed amendments to the regulatory technical standards (RTS) for the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. ESMA acknowledges the legal constraints presented by the Commission but emphasizes the importance of the policy objectives behind the initial proposal. In its opinion, ESMA notes the proposed revisions to two specific RTS. These revisions detail the information that certain financial entities must include in their notifications of intent to provide crypto-asset services and the information required in the authorization applications for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). ESMA reiterates that the ultimate goal of these RTS is to ensure a thorough entry-point assessment of applicants seeking to become CASPs and financial entities intending to offer crypto-asset services within the EU. Therefore, ESMA suggests that the Commission consider amending the MiCA regulation (Level 1) to require applicants for CASP status and notifying entities to provide the results of external cybersecurity audits. Additionally, when assessing the good reputation of members of the management bodies of applicant CASPs, the evaluation should include checks beyond commercial law, bankruptcy law, financial services law, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, fraud, or professional liability.