MiCA regulation takes shape under EBA’s newest guidelines

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has released a comprehensive package of technical standards and guidelines under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, providing regulatory guidance for asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs) across Europe.

The package covers six topics, from stress testing programs and asset reserves to recovery plans. Under MiCA, ARTs are tokens backed by assets like commodities, real estate, or a basket of different assets, while EMTs maintain a stable value by being pegged to fiat currencies and used for payments, like a stablecoin.

Specifically, the authority provides guidelines for token issuers, including the need for enough financial resources (own funds) to cover potential risks. It also creates parameters to determine if an issuer is facing a higher degree of risk, which should lead to an increase in own fund reserves.

EBA’s reports outline the procedure and timeframe for issuers to adjust their own funds to 3% of the average reserve of assets that are classified as significant. The implementation plan must be provided within 25 working days, and compliance must be achieved within a maximum of six months.

In addition, the European regulator is setting minimum percentages for asset reserves based on daily and weekly maturities and limiting issuers’ concentration of highly liquid financial instruments. One of the draft reports states:

“The minimum amount of deposits with credit institutions to be held in the reserve of assets related to tokens that are not significant and are referenced to official currencies should be kept to 30% of the amount referenced, or to 60% if the token is significant, and not raised any higher [...].”

Tokens linked to assets other than official currencies, such as commodities or real estate, can also be considered highly liquid. The EBA similarly sets limits on the number of these highly liquid financial instruments a single issuer can offer.

As for recovery plans, the regulator is incorporating feedback from the consultation period, specifying content for communication and disclosure. It also introduces a new paragraph to clarify that requirements over asset reserves do not apply to EMT issuers already exempted by the legislation.

The standards guidelines are part of the implementation of the MiCA regulation. Digital assets services providers must comply with the new standards by July 1, 2026.

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