FIA EPTA members welcome the opportunity to respond to the ESMA Consultation Paper on the draft Guidelines on the conditions and criteria for the qualification of crypto-assets as financial instruments.
FIA EPTA members welcome the aim to provide general conditions and clarity on the divergence between financial instruments and crypto-assets. However, FIA EPTA members believe that in the suggested approach by ESMA, there is too much focus and room for interpretation for NCAs, we believe that clear criteria from ESMA are critical to define the regulatory perimeter between MiFID II and MiCAR. We would suggest ESMA together with market participants to adopt a more pragmatic approach, with a view to ultimately publishing criteria and a list of MICAR crypto-assets.
