On Thursday 9 October, the President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, took the view that the MiCA regulation should not be amended to tighten prudential requirements for stablecoins, particularly those denominated in dollars and issued outside the European Union.
“We do believe this is a regulation that is fit for purpose”, declared Mr Donohoe after the Eurogroup meeting. In his view, the Finance Ministers, who spoke at the meeting, recognise the importance of having a regulatory framework that provides the “stability” and “predictability” necessary for investment and innovation.
The European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, agreed. The MiCA regulation provides “safeguards to mitigate the risks exposed by global stablecoins”, he said, citing in particular the powers of national and European authorities, the rebalancing of currency reserves, limits on the use of payments, and cooperation between supervisors.
Faced with the US administration’s desire to promote stablecoins denominated in dollars, the Commissioner promised that the Commission will continue to assess whether European rules are “sufficient” to support the growth of the market, especially for stablecoins denominated in euros.
On Monday, ECB President Christine Lagarde warned once again of the shortcomings of the MiCA regulation (see EUROPE 13725/27). In her view, before the EU allows non-EU stablecoins, the regulatory framework needs to address key issues such as “the equivalence regime, safeguards in place, international cooperation, a level playing field, access to reserves if and when a problem arises”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)