MiCA CASP licensing 

The recently adopted MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation overhauls the entire crypto-asset regulation affecting all crypto-assets and crypto companies operating in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) and it’s going to be fully implemented by the end of 2024.

Crypto-asset Service Providers (CASPs) will need to be licensed to provide their services whereas Issuers of non-stablecoin crypto-assets will have to adhere to certain requirements, and stablecoin issuance will be either reserved to certain entities or allowed upon specific authorization.

However, a single MiCA license will allow CASPs to provide their services and the crypto-asset issuers to offer their crypto-assets or admit them to a trading platform in the EU/EEA without additional national limitations.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Our team includes the most experienced licensing and compliance partners, having licensed financial institutions in Lithuania and Latvia since 2014.

We have successfully licensed over 40 financial institutions with the Bank of Lithuania, enabling them to provide services throughout the European Union.

We are an experienced provider of AML/CTF and international sanctions training, having trained dozens of financial institutions and hundreds of their employees, including virtual asset service providers.

Our expertise extends to conducting AML/CTF and international sanctions audits, having completed over 30 internal and external audits for financial institutions and virtual asset service providers in Lithuania and other EU member states.

We assist in the evaluation and selection of AML team members through knowledge assessments and provide specialized AML training.

In addition, we assist some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges in achieving regulatory compliance.

Attorney-client privilege is guaranteed as part of our professional obligations.

MiCA CASP LICENSING PROCESS

In terms of the requirements the MiCA CASP licensing process is comparable to other financial institution licensing processes such as electronic money institutions or financial brokerages. Accordingly, the status of licensees’ preparation expected by the Regulators is the same and the extent of necessary documentation will be established on a case-by-case basis.

1st stage – GAP ANALYSIS

The MiCA regulation identifies 10 different licensable services. The gap analysis is designed to evaluate the Company’s current preparation status for MiCA requirements and correlate the activities to specific licensable services. In particular, the gap analysis is intended to evaluate the Company’s shareholders, governance arrangements and services.

GAP ANALYSIS DELIVERABLE – ROADMAP

A workable roadmap indicating the gaps and what needs to be prepared in order to prepare a submittable MiCA CASP license application.

May take up to 50 hours.

2nd stage – PREPARATION

The second phase of the MiCA licensing process is where we utilize the roadmap prepared during the gap analysis in order to prepare all of the pending documentation necessary to compile a submittable MiCA CASP license application based on the application form of the BoL.

The work extent of this stage depends on the Company’s status of preparation and the identified gaps.

PREPARATION DELIVERABLE – SUBMISSION TO BOL

May take 150 –  300 hours.

3rd stage – REGULATOR COMMENT

The third stage covers the questions answers session with the BoL and the preparation of other procedures and documents which were not in scope of formal BoL application requirements.

May take 50-100 hours

MICA – Further Information

For further information on the MiCA’s implementation and the different considerations that need to be taken into account please refer to our examining the regulatory regimes of crypto company regulation before the implementation of the MiCA regulation and after its implementation. Read more.

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In addition, you’re welcome to have a look at our video mini-series “MiCA at a glance” which describes the main aspects of the MiCA regulation and the applicable exemptions and exceptions.

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