MiCA Regulation [Eurolex]

Art. 16 - Authorisation Art. 17 - Requirements for banks Art. 18 - Application for authorisation Art. 19 - Whitepaper Art. 20 - Assessment of application Art. 21 - Refusal of authorisation Art. 22 - Reporting on stablecoins Art. 23 - Restrictions on mass stablecoins Art. 24 - Withdrawal of the authorisation Art. 25 - Modification of whitepaper Art. 26 - Liability for whitepaper Art. 27 - Best interest Art. 28 - Whitepaper Art. 29 - Marketing Art. 30 - Ongoing information Art. 31 - Complaints-handling Art. 32 - Conflicts of interest Art. 33 - Changes of management Art. 34 - Governance arrangements Art. 35 - Own funds requirements Art. 36 - Reserve assets Art. 37 - Custody of reserve assets Art. 38 - Investment of the reserves Art. 39 - Right of redemption Art. 40 - Prohibition of granting interest Art. 41 - Acquisition of issuers: Assessment Art. 42 - Acquisitions of issuers: Content Art. 43 - Significant stablecoins Art. 44 - Voluntary significant stablecoins Art. 45 - Obligations for significant stablecoins Art. 46 - Recovery plan Art. 47 - Redemption plan
Art. 59 - Authorisation Art. 60 - Services by licensed entities Art. 61 - Reverse solicitation Art. 62 - Application for authorisation Art. 63 - Assessment of application Art. 64 - Withdrawal of authorisation Art. 65 - Cross-border services Art. 66 - Honest, fair, professional Art. 67 - Prudential requirements Art. 68 - Governance arrangements Art. 69 - Information to authorities Art. 70 - Custody Art. 71 - Complaints-handling procedures Art. 72 - Conflicts of interest Art. 73 - Outsourcing Art. 74 - Orderly wind-down Art. 75 - Custody and administration Art. 76 - Trading platforms Art. 77 - Exchange Art. 78 - Best execution Art. 79 - Placing of crypto-assets Art. 80 - Reception and transmission of orders Art. 81 - Advice and Portfolio Management Art. 82 - Transfers Art. 83 - Acquisitions: Assessment Art. 84 - Acquisitions: Content Art. 85 - Significant service providers
Art. 93 - Competent authorities Art. 94 - Powers of competent authorities Art. 95 - Cooperation Art. 96 - Cooperation EBA and ESMA Art. 97 - Classification of tokens Art. 98 - Other authorities Art. 99 - Duty of notification Art. 100 - Professional secrecy Art. 101 - Data protection Art. 102 - Precautionary measures Art. 103 - ESMA interventions Art. 104 - EBA interventions Art. 105 - Product intervention Art. 106 - Coordination with ESMA or EBA Art. 107 - Third-countries Art. 108 - Complaints-handling Art. 109 - ESMA register Art. 110 - Register of non-compliant firms Art. 111 - Administrative penalties Art. 112 - Supervisory powers Art. 113 - Right of appeal Art. 114 - Publication of decisions Art. 115 - Reporting of penalties Art. 116 - Reporting of infringements Art. 117 - Supervision: stablecoins Art. 118 - EBA crypto-asset committee Art. 119 - Colleges for issuers Art. 120 - Non-binding opinion of colleges Art. 121 - Legal privilege Art. 122 - Request for information Art. 123 - General investigative powers Art. 124 - On-site inspections Art. 125 - Exchange of information Art. 126 - Third countries: information Art. 127 - Third countries: disclosure Art. 128 - Other authorities Art. 129 - Professional secrecy Art. 130 - Supervisory measures EBA Art. 131 - Fines Art. 132 - Periodic penalty payments Art. 133 - Allocation of fines Art. 134 - Fines: procedural rules Art. 135 - Investigation: hearings Art. 136 - Review by the Court of Justice Art. 137 - Supervisory fees Art. 138 - EBA: delegation of tasks Art. 139 - Exercise of the delegation Art. 140 - Reports on MiCA Art. 141 - Report on market Art. 142 - Report on crypto-assets
Art. 143 - Transitional measures

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Article 21 - Refusal of authorisation

(Official title: Grant or refusal of the authorisation)

  1. Competent authorities shall, within 25 working days of receipt of the opinions referred to in Article 20(5), take a fully reasoned decision granting or refusing authorisation to the applicant issuer and, within five working days of taking that decision, notify it to the applicant issuer. Where an applicant issuer is authorised, its crypto-asset white paper shall be deemed to be approved.

  2. Competent authorities shall refuse authorisation where there are objective and demonstrable grounds that:

    (a) the management body of the applicant issuer might pose a threat to its effective, sound and prudent management and business continuity and to the adequate consideration of the interest of its clients and the integrity of the market;

    (b) members of the management body do not meet the criteria set out in Article 34(2);

    (c) shareholders and members, whether direct or indirect, that have qualifying holdings do not meet the criteria of sufficiently good repute set out in Article 34(4);

    (d) the applicant issuer fails to meet or is likely to fail to meet any of the requirements of this Title;

    (e) the applicant issuer’s business model might pose a serious threat to market integrity, financial stability, the smooth operation of payment systems, or exposes the issuer or the sector to serious risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

  3. EBA and ESMA shall, by 30 June 2024, jointly issue guidelines in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 and Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010, respectively, on the assessment of the suitability of the members of the management body of issuers of asset-referenced tokens and of the shareholders and members, whether direct or indirect, that have qualifying holdings in issuers of asset-referenced tokens.

  4. Competent authorities shall also refuse authorisation if the ECB or, where applicable, the central bank gives a negative opinion under Article 20(5) on the grounds of a risk posed to the smooth operation of payment systems, monetary policy transmission, or monetary sovereignty.

  5. Competent authorities shall, within two working days of granting authorisation, communicate to the single point of contact of the host Member States, to ESMA, to EBA, to the ECB and, where applicable, to the central bank referred to in Article 20(4), the information specified in Article 109(3).

    ESMA shall make such information available in the register, under Article 109(3), by the starting date of the offer to the public or admission to trading.

  6. Competent authorities shall inform EBA, ESMA, the ECB and, where applicable, the central bank referred to in Article 20(4), of all requests for authorisations refused, and provide the underlying reasoning for the decision and, where applicable, an explanation for any deviation from the opinions referred to in Article 20(5).

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