Malta begins public consultation on revised crypto rules to align with MiCA

Malta’s Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has begun nationalist consultation implicit changes successful its crypto regulations successful bid to align with Europe’s Markets successful Crypto-Assets (MICA) regulations acceptable to instrumentality effect successful December 2024. The nationalist consultation play is unfastened until Sept. 29.

The revised rulebook proposes changes to the rules for exchanges, custodians and portfolio managers successful bid to align with the European Union’s MiCA. Malta archetypal established its crypto model successful 2018 with the Virtual Financial Assets (VFA).

Some of the notable changes with respect to the VFA Rulebook are:

• The MFSA has removed the systems audit request for VFA licence holders.
• The superior requirements for Class 3 and 4 licence holders were reduced to $133,000 (125,000 euros) and $159,000 (150,000 euros), respectively.
• The nonrecreational indemnity security request was removed.
• The outsourcing requirements were updated successful enactment with MiCA.
• The service-specific rules of MiCA were incorporated into the VFA rulebook, wherever the requirements applicable to VFA exchanges, bid execution and lawsuit suitability volition beryllium amended.
• The requirements relating to lawsuit categorization person been removed.
• The request for a Risk Management and the Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Report has been removed.

With the passing of the MiCA regulations, each existing regulations successful the EU nations volition beryllium replaced by the cosmopolitan MiCA laws. Malta, being an EU member, had 2 options: either to hold for 18 months earlier the MiCA laws travel into effect oregon amend the existing regulations to align with the cosmopolitan EU laws. The regulators chose the 2nd option.

Related: Industry leaders and policymakers respond to transition of MiCA successful EU

In an interrogation successful October past year, the regulators stated that aboriginal modifications to their existing crypto regulations would assistance VFA licence holders seamlessly modulation to MiCA-based laws and get the EU license. Malta’s VFA model was based upon Markets successful Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) principles, with MiCA deriving respective principles from the aforesaid rulebook.

Apart from Malta, chap EU federation France has also amended its existing regulatory guidelines for crypto to align with MiCA, which travel into effect successful aboriginal 2024.

Magazine: Crypto regulation: Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler person the last say?