EU to Consult on Crypto Complaints, Conflict of Interest Rules in July

The European Union’s securities market agency ESMA will consult in July on proposed new complaint handling and conflict-of-interest rules that crypto companies within the bloc will have to follow, according to a notice on the regulator’s website.

The European Securities and Markets Authority will set out proposals next month for how the EU’s new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) rules should work in practice, including the forms and notifications that crypto companies and established funds have to follow in order to offer services within the bloc.

A second tranche of consultations in October will consider disclosures of environmental impacts and may also cover trading transparency and governance requirements, while a third set due early in 2024 will look at market abuse and investor protection, ESMA said.

MiCA was published in the EU’s official journal on Friday after years of talks, and will allow crypto exchanges to operate across the bloc with a single license as of the end of next year. Rules requiring stablecoin issuers to hold appropriate reserves take effect as of June 2024, and industry lobbyists have said how the rules are implemented under subsidiary legislation could prove crucial in practice.

Further procedural rules are expected from ESMA’s counterpart the European Banking Authority, which will be responsible for setting capital requirements and supervising significant stablecoins.

Read more: EU's ESMA Raises Alarm Bells Over Growing Crypto Use as It Prepares for New Powers