EBA consults on draft technical standards on complaints handling procedures under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Consultation Paper on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) on complaints handling procedures for issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). These draft RTS aim at ensuring prompt, fair and consistent handling of complaints by holders of ARTs and other interested parties.

The EBA is mandated to develop, in close cooperation with the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA), draft RTS on the complaints handling procedures of issuers of ARTs. The RTS must further specify the requirements, templates and procedures for handling complaints received from holders of ARTs and other interested parties, (including consumer associations that represent those holders), and procedures to facilitate the handling of complaints between holders of ARTs and third-party entities, where applicable.

The draft RTS proposed in this consultation paper set out definitions of complaints and complainants, requirements related to the complaints management policy and function, provision of information to holders of ARTs and on templates and recording. They then proceed with requirements about the procedure to investigate complaints and to communicate the outcome of the investigations to complainants and specific provisions for complaints handling involving third-party entities.

The requirements proposed in the consultation paper have been strongly informed by the existing Joint Committee (JC) Guidelines on complaints handling which apply uniformly to all financial institutions across the banking, insurance and investments sector since 2014 and assessed as fit for purpose during a recent review of the JC in 2021. Where the MiCAR RTS mandate requires the EBA to include additional requirements going beyond the JC GLs, these have also been informed by the approach proposed by ESMA in relation to the MiCAR RTS on complaints handling procedures for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) in Article 71 to bring about a desirable degree of consistency.

Consultation process

Comments to the consultation paper can be sent by clicking on the "send your comments" button on the EBA's consultation page. The deadline for the submission of comments is 12 October 2023. 

The EBA will hold a virtual public hearing on the consultation paper on 21 September 2023 from 14:30 to 16:00 CEST. The EBA invites interested stakeholders to register using this link by 19 September 2023 at 16:00 CEST.  The dial-in details will be communicated to those who have registered for the meeting.  

All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation, unless requested otherwise. 

The scope of the consultation, and of the consultation questions, is limited to the amendments and additions.

Legal basis

The EBA has developed these draft RTS in accordance with Article 31 of MiCAR and in close cooperation with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Background

Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-assets establishes a regime for the regulation and supervision of crypto-asset issuance and crypto-asset service provision in the European Union (EU). It came into force on 29 June 2023, and the provisions relating to ARTs will be applicable from 30 June 2024. 

Among the activities within the scope of MiCAR are the activities of offering to the public or seeking admission to trading ARTs and electronic money tokens (EMTs) and issuing such tokens. Supervision tasks are conferred on the EBA for ARTs and EMTs that are determined by the EBA to be significant. Additionally, the EBA is mandated to develop 17 technical standards and guidelines under MiCAR to further specify the requirements for ARTs and EMTs, and an additional 3 mandates jointly with ESMA (and, in one case, also EIOPA). 

The consultation paper on complaints handling is published on the same date as consultation papers on authorisations and qualifying holdings.