MEPs meeting in Strasbourg plenary on Thursday 20 April approved by 517 votes to 38 with 18 abstentions the Interinstitutional Agreement on new common rules on supervision, consumer protection and environmental safeguards for crypto-assets, including cryptocurrencies (MiCA). The European Parliament had reached a provisional political agreement with the EU Council on 30 June 2022 (see EUROPE 12984/3).
The new legislative framework including crypto-assets – so far not covered by the current financial services legislation – will require crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) to publish a brochure outlining the technologies used and the risks, before they are granted market authorisation.
Also in the sense of providing more information to consumers, CASPs will also have to make public information on their environmental and climate impact (see EUROPE 12910/12). This information will be transmitted to the competent national authority, which will inform the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
“The obligations are much stricter. (...) It will then be up to each individual to decide whether to buy or not”, summarised rapporteur Stefan Berger (EPP, German).
ESMA, whose balance of powers between itself and the European Banking Authority has been reviewed, will also have to publish a public register for non-compliant CASPs operating in the EU without authorisation.
From the European Banking Authority (EBA) side, issuers of ‘stablecoins’ will have to build up a sufficiently liquid reserve, partly in the form of deposits. Each holder of ‘stablecoins’ will be able to redeem them free of charge at any time by the issuer.
The text also provides for information on the sender and recipient of crypto-assets to be included by CASPs for money transfers, “in line with international standards”, Mr Berger said.
The Commission expects the text to be published in the EU’s Official Journal in June. The rules will have to be applied gradually. “The ‘MiCA’ provisions on ‘stablecoins’ will start to apply in full in July 2024. Requirements on other crypto-asset issuers and providers will start in July 2025”, detailed European Commissioner for Financial Services, Mairead McGuinness.
Parliament gives green light to revision of ‘TFR’ Directive
MEPs also approved, by 529 votes to 29 with 14 abstentions, the Interinstitutional Agreement on the revision of the ‘TFR’ Directive on money transfers to include crypto-assets in the scope.
“The recast of the TFR will finally oblige CASPs to trace every transfer of crypto-assets to verify their identity in order to detect and block suspicious transactions and facilitate investigations”, explained one of the co-rapporteurs, Ernest Urtasun (Greens/EFA, Spanish).
The co-legislators strengthened the original text by adding: - traceability of all crypto-asset transfers from the first euro, thus removing the minimum threshold of €1,000; - the inclusion in the scope of transfers between CASPs and ‘self-hosted wallets’; - enhanced due diligence for CASPs based on risk.
In response to MEPs who criticised the texts for criminalising cryptocurrencies. Ms McGuinness replied that this was “not at all the case”. “Those who engage in criminal activity have criminalised themselves, but we are putting regulations in place to ensure that we find out what is going on in this area and prevent it from even happening”, she said.
See the Interinstitutional Agreement on ‘MiCA’: https://aeur.eu/f/6f4
See the Interinstitutional Agreement on ‘TFR’: https://aeur.eu/f/6f9 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani and Thomas Mangin)