RegRally Insights: Crypto & Investments Regulation, September 2026

In August the SEC proposed “Regulation Crypto Assets”, a tailored US securities-law framework for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets, which firms authorized under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) will need to read alongside their existing obligations. In Lithuania, the Bank of Lithuania granted new investment licenses and set out how far a crowdfunding platform’s bulletin board can go before it raises a trading-venue question. At EU level, the EBA opened a consultation on the EUR 30 billion threshold at which investment firms become credit institutions, the ESAs moved to simplify initial margin rules for counterparties below the EUR 8 billion threshold, and weekly commodity derivatives position reporting went live on 3 September.

This September edition of RegRally is for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), investment firms, fund managers and crowdfunding platforms operating in the Baltics and across the EU.

This month at a glance

• Lithuania licensing: Evernord Asset Management was licensed as a management company of alternative collective investment undertakings, covering informed-investor funds, UCITS, real-estate funds and portfolio management. Nasdaq Vilnius rule amendments took effect on 1 September, with the Auction Volume Discovery (AVD) order rolling out across the Baltic markets in stages from 21 September.
• Lithuania supervision: Aria Securities received a Category C brokerage license structured without holding client funds or financial instruments. FinoMark’s crowdfunding license was supplemented with a strictly non-matching bulletin board, and the 2026 inspection plan was adjusted for two payment sector firms.
• United States: the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, with two registration exemptions (USD 5 million once over four years, and USD 75 million per 12-month period), a conditional safe harbor from the “investment contract” definition, and preemption of state registration requirements. Comments close on 20 October 2026.
• Prudential: the EBA is consulting on three draft technical standards on the EUR 30 billion reclassification threshold, related reporting from EUR 5 billion, and, for the first time, the factors competent authorities must consider when deciding whether to grant a waiver. Registration for the 30 September hearing closes on 25 September; comments close on 25 November 2026.
• Derivatives and markets: the ESAs proposed removing initial margin exchange for counterparties below the EUR 8 billion threshold on both new and existing uncleared OTC contracts, and weekly commodity derivatives position reporting went live on 3 September under XML schema v2.0.

Bank of Lithuania licenses Evernord Asset Management and approves Nasdaq Vilnius rule changes

Date: 26 August 2026 | Source: Lietuvos bankas (Bank of Lithuania)
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What happened?

In its Financial Market Supervision Committee decisions of 26 August, the Bank of Lithuania took two decisions relevant to investment activity.

It licensed Evernord Asset Management UAB as a management company of alternative collective investment undertakings. The license permits the company to manage collective investment undertakings intended for informed investors (including those intended for professional investors), to manage undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), to manage real-estate collective investment undertakings, and to manage portfolios of financial instruments belonging to other persons.

It also approved Baltic membership rules amendments at the request of AB Nasdaq Vilnius. Part of the amendments implement the European Commission regulation establishing requirements for the publication of market data on reasonable commercial terms. A new order type, the Auction Volume Discovery (AVD) order, is being introduced on the Nasdaq Nordic markets for use in opening and closing auctions, with the aim of increasing auction liquidity without adversely affecting price formation. It will be rolled out across all three Baltic markets in stages from 21 September. The rule amendments entered into force on 1 September 2026.

Why it matters for crypto and investment businesses

The Evernord license covers four activities under a single authorization: informed-investor funds, UCITS, real-estate funds and individual portfolio management. For anyone scoping a Lithuanian application, it is a current reference point for how widely a management company authorization can be drawn, and a reminder that individual portfolio management has to be applied for expressly.

For trading members, the AVD order and the market-data requirements come with fixed dates. The rulebook changes applied from 1 September and the AVD rollout begins on 21 September.

Recommended actions

Businesses should:

• use the scope granted to Evernord as a benchmark when scoping their own license application (managers planning Lithuanian AIFM or UCITS activity), and apply expressly for individual portfolio-management permission where the business model requires it
• update rulebook compliance, order-handling and best-execution documentation for the AVD order type (trading members on Nasdaq Vilnius)
• review market-data licensing and redistribution arrangements against the reasonable-commercial-terms requirements

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Bank of Lithuania licenses Aria Securities and expands FinoMark’s crowdfunding permissions

Date: 20 August 2026 | Source: Lietuvos bankas (Bank of Lithuania)
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What happened?

The Financial Market Supervision Committee decisions bulletin of 20 August contained four decisions.

A Category C financial brokerage (investment) firm license went to UAB Aria Securities, permitting the reception and transmission of orders, management of financial instrument portfolios, provision of investment advice, and placing of financial instruments without a firm commitment basis. Ancillary services were also authorized: advising undertakings on capital structure and business strategy, advice and services on reorganizations and acquisitions, investment research and financial analysis, and other general recommendations relating to transactions in financial instruments. The firm will not hold client funds or client financial instruments.

The crowdfunding license of UAB “FinoMark” was supplemented with the right to operate a bulletin board on which registered and properly identified platform clients may advertise an intention to transfer or acquire claims relating to loans originally offered on the platform. The board will operate only as a technical facility. It will not automatically match buying and selling interests, execute client orders or conclude claim-transfer agreements.

The 2026 inspection plan was adjusted. The planned on-site inspection of electronic money institution UAB B4B PAYMENTS EUROPE will be replaced by off-site (remote) supervision. The inspection window for payment institution RIA Lithuania UAB moves from August–October 2026 to November 2026–January 2027. Senior appointments were approved at UAB SME Bank (head of the internal audit service) and Urbo bankas (board member).

Why it matters for crypto and investment businesses

Aria Securities will not hold client funds or client financial instruments, which materially narrows its safeguarding and prudential profile. Applicants often treat client asset holding as a given when it is a decision they control at the design stage.

The FinoMark decision shows how a bulletin board can be built to sit inside a crowdfunding license. The board stays passive: no automatic matching of buying and selling interests, no execution of client orders, no conclusion of claim-transfer agreements. That is the boundary that keeps such a facility outside the trading-venue perimeter under the Crowdfunding Regulation (ECSPR). Automated matching would raise a trading venue and MiFID authorization question.

Recommended actions

Businesses should:

• treat client asset holding as a design decision rather than a default (investment-firm applicants), and scope ancillary services explicitly in the application
• keep any bulletin board strictly non-matching and non-executing and document that design (crowdfunding platforms adding secondary-liquidity features), since automated matching of buy and sell interest risks triggering trading venue and MiFID authorization requirements
• re-check their slot and re-phase inspection-readiness work (PIs and EMIs named in the published inspection plan), since off-site supervision still produces data requests and remote reviews

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SEC proposes Regulation Crypto Assets with two registration exemptions and a conditional safe harbor

Date: 18 August 2026 | Source: SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)
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What happened?

The SEC proposed new rules titled “Regulation Crypto Assets”, intended to create a clear and fit-for-purpose framework for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets. The proposal builds on the Commission’s March 2026 interpretation of how the federal securities laws apply to crypto assets and transactions involving them.

Two exemptions from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 are proposed. The first is a one-time exemption permitting offerings of up to USD 5 million over a four-year period. The second permits offerings of up to USD 75 million in each 12-month period. Issuers under both would make principles-based narrative disclosures available to investors, and issuers relying on the second would also provide financial statements and be subject to ongoing reporting requirements.

The proposal also includes a conditional safe harbor from the “investment contract” element of the “security” definitions in the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, available once an issuer has completed or permanently ceased the essential managerial efforts it represented or promised it would undertake. Securities issued under a Regulation Crypto Assets exemption would be exempt from state securities law registration and qualification requirements, as would certain secondary market transactions.

The proposing release (Release Nos. 33-11434 and 34-106150, File No. S7-2026-27) was published in the Federal Register on 21 August 2026. The public comment period closes on 20 October 2026.

Why it matters for crypto and investment businesses

The two frameworks do different jobs, which is why they have to be mapped rather than compared. MiCA authorizes service providers and regulates offers to the public through white papers, disclosure and marketing rules. The SEC proposal is an offering regime built on a different premise: the security is the investment contract surrounding the asset, and the proposed safe harbor turns on whether the issuer has completed or permanently ceased the managerial efforts it promised. An asset that falls outside MiCA’s white-paper obligations can still form part of an investment contract in the US, and an offering structured under a proposed US exemption still needs its EU treatment worked out separately.

For smaller issuers, the caps set the shape of what a US-facing raise can look like: USD 5 million once, or USD 75 million a year with financial statements and ongoing reporting attached.

Recommended actions

Crypto-asset firms with US touchpoints should:

• test planned or completed token offerings against the two proposed exemptions and the conditions of the safe harbor, including the point at which essential managerial efforts are treated as complete
• map the interaction with MiCA for any asset offered in both markets, covering classification, white-paper and disclosure content, and marketing rules
• submit comments under File No. S7-2026-27 by 20 October 2026 if the proposed conditions would affect a planned offering
• review group structures to ensure US-facing activity is ring-fenced or appropriately authorized

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EBA consults on the EUR 30 billion threshold at which investment firms become credit institutions

Date: 25 August 2026 | Source: EBA (European Banking Authority)
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What happened?

The EBA launched a consultation on three draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) on the reclassification of investment firms as credit institutions. Under the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD), an investment firm whose total assets exceed EUR 30 billion must obtain a credit institution authorization rather than operate under a MiFID investment firm authorization.

The first two RTS revise the methodology for calculating total assets against that threshold, at solo and group level, and the related reporting requirements. They reflect the 2024 amendments to the CRD, which clarified the scope of entities to be included in the calculation. Reporting applies from a lower level than reclassification: under Article 55(5) of the Investment Firms Regulation (IFR), it covers investment firms whose total assets exceed EUR 5 billion.

The third RTS is new. For the first time, the EBA is consulting on the factors competent authorities must consider when deciding whether to grant a waiver from the requirement to hold a credit institution authorization. Where a waiver is granted, the firm continues to operate under its investment firm authorization.

The legal bases are Articles 8a(6)(b) and 8a(7) CRD and Article 55(5) IFR. The feedback deadline is 25 November 2026. A virtual public hearing takes place on 30 September 2026 at 10:00 CEST, with registration required by 25 September 2026 at 16:00 CEST.

Why it matters for crypto and investment businesses

Crossing the threshold moves a firm out of the IFR/IFD regime and into the full CRR and CRD prudential framework, with a fresh authorization to obtain. For a firm within reach of EUR 30 billion, the calculation methodology determines when the threshold is crossed, and the proposed waiver factors may determine whether the firm can stay under its investment firm authorization. Both are worth reading before they are finalized.

The EUR 5 billion reporting level catches a much wider group. Firms above it will be reporting against the threshold long before they come close to it.

Recommended actions

Large investment firms approaching the total-assets threshold should:

• model total assets under the proposed methodology at both solo and group level and identify the point at which EUR 30 billion would be crossed
• assess the proposed waiver factors against the firm’s structure and business model, since a waiver preserves the investment firm authorization
• check the proposed reporting templates and instructions where total assets exceed EUR 5 billion
• register for the 30 September hearing by 25 September and prepare consultation comments ahead of the 25 November deadline

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European Supervisory Authorities propose to simplify initial margin requirements under EMIR

Date: 3 August 2026 | Source: EBA / EIOPA / ESMA (Joint Committee of the ESAs)
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What happened?

The EBA, EIOPA and ESMA published a final report on draft regulatory technical standards proposing to simplify the bilateral margin requirements in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/2251 under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).

The proposal concerns initial margin only, and targets counterparties below the EUR 8 billion threshold for exchanging initial margin. Under the current framework, those counterparties are exempt from exchanging initial margin on new uncleared over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts but continue to exchange it on existing ones. The amendments would remove the requirement for new and existing contracts alike, completing the phase-out for this group and moving the EU closer to the treatment applied in other jurisdictions. The ESAs present the change as a response to requests from market participants and part of their simplification and burden reduction work.

The final report has been submitted to the European Commission for endorsement. The RTS will then be subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council before publication in the Official Journal.

Why it matters for crypto and investment businesses

The proposed change would reduce the initial margin burden for affected counterparties. A counterparty below EUR 8 billion that is still posting and collecting initial margin on legacy uncleared trades would be able to stop, releasing collateral and retiring the associated custody and segregation arrangements.

The timing sits with the Commission and the co-legislators, so nothing changes yet. The consultation stage has passed and comments are closed, which makes this a planning item rather than a lobbying one.

Recommended actions

Derivatives counterparties should:

• confirm whether the firm sits below the EUR 8 billion initial margin threshold, and identify any legacy uncleared OTC contracts on which initial margin is still exchanged
• estimate the collateral and custody arrangements that would be released, and plan the operational steps and counterparty communications needed to unwind them
• track the endorsement timeline through the Commission, Parliament and Council, since the relief applies only once the amending RTS are published in the Official Journal

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ESMA confirms 3 September go-live of weekly commodity derivatives position reporting

Date: 14 August 2026 | Source: ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority)
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What happened?

ESMA confirmed that the new weekly commodity derivatives position reporting framework went live on 3 September 2026. From that date, market participants submit weekly position reports under the updated requirements, technical specifications and validation rules introduced by XML schema version 2.0.

The go-live follows ESMA’s original reporting instructions and a subsequent decision to postpone the rollout, which gave firms additional time for technical and operational preparation. Updated reporting instructions and the XML schema are published on ESMA’s website.

Commodity derivatives position reporting sits within the MiFID II position limits and position management regime, and the shift to a weekly cycle increases the frequency and consistency of the data available to supervisors across trading venues.

Why it matters for crypto and investment businesses

The date has already passed. Any firm holding commodity derivative positions should be submitting weekly against schema v2.0, and a validation failure now surfaces every week instead of at a longer interval.

The earlier postponement led some firms to pause their implementation work. Where that work was not restarted in time, the gap will show in rejected or incomplete submissions from the first reporting week onwards.

Recommended actions

Firms holding commodity derivatives positions should:

• confirm that weekly submissions are running against XML schema v2.0 with the updated validation rules implemented, and resolve any rejected or incomplete submissions since 3 September
• review position-limit monitoring and ancillary-activity assessments against the more frequent data

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What crypto and investment businesses should focus on now

License scope is a design choice. The Evernord authorization shows how widely a Lithuanian management company license can be drawn, and Aria Securities shows what falls away when a firm decides not to hold client assets. The FinoMark bulletin board marks where a crowdfunding license stops and a MiFID trading venue question starts.

On the SEC proposal, the work worth doing now is mapping a token’s treatment under both regimes side by side. Comments under File No. S7-2026-27 close on 20 October 2026, so there is still time to respond on the points that would affect a planned offering.

Three dates are live in the EU. Weekly commodity derivatives position reporting went live on 3 September, so any gap in submissions is already accruing. Registration for the EBA public hearing closes on 25 September, ahead of the hearing on 30 September and the consultation deadline of 25 November. The Nasdaq Vilnius rule amendments took effect on 1 September and the AVD rollout starts on 21 September.

The EMIR initial margin relief runs on a slower track. It has gone to the Commission for endorsement and applies only once the amending RTS reach the Official Journal.

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How ECOVIS ProventusLaw can help crypto and investment businesses

ECOVIS ProventusLaw advises crypto-asset and investment businesses across the Baltics on fintech and financial institution licensing in the EU, including:

• MiCA authorization strategy and regulatory perimeter mapping
• scoping AIFM, UCITS and investment firm license applications, including ancillary services and client-asset choices
• crowdfunding licensing and the design of secondary-liquidity features under ECSPR
• structuring cross-border activity across the EU and US regimes
• white papers, token offerings and disclosure documents
• AML/CTF, Travel Rule and sanctions controls for crypto businesses
• DORA and ICT risk readiness
• dialogue with financial supervisors, from pre-licensing consultations to inspections

If a license application, a perimeter question or a new regulatory proposal touches your plans, we can help you scope it before the regulator asks.