The EBA publishes final draft technical standards on complaints handling for issuers of asset referenced tokens

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published the final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) that set out the requirements, templates and procedures for handling complaints received by issuers of asset reference tokens (ARTs). The draft RTS fulfil a mandate conferred on the EBA in the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) and were developed in close cooperation with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

The draft RTS set out requirements related to the complaints management policy and function, the provision of information to holders of ARTs and other interested parties, templates, recordings, languages, 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 draft RTS were subject to a public consultation between 12 July 2023 and 12 October 2023.  General support was shown by respondents for the approach proposed by the EBA, which they considered to be appropriately balanced. However, some respondents expressed their preference for a more uniform approach between the EBA’s RTS and the equivalent RTS by ESMA on complaints handling for crypto asset service providers. 

Having assessed the responses, the EBA decided to make a small number of targeted amendments with the aim to provide greater clarity and to further align with ESMA, in relation to requirements on languages, data protection and procedure for submitting an electronic complaint. 

Legal basis and background

The mandate for these draft RTS is set out in Article 31 (5) of MiCAR, which provides that the EBA shall develop, in close cooperation with ESMA, draft RTS to further specify the requirements, templates and procedures for handling complaints. The RTS shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.