On 17 February 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a consultation paper containing draft guidelines for the criteria on the assessment of knowledge and competence under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Background
Article 81(15) of MiCA provides for ESMA to issue guidelines specifying the criteria for the assessment of knowledge and competence in accordance with paragraph 7 of this Article. A key objective of the guidelines is to ensure a minimum level of knowledge and competence of staff providing advice and information on crypto-assets or crypto-asset services to clients, to enhance investor protection and foster investors’ trust in the crypto-asset markets.
ESMA has developed the draft guidelines by taking as a reference the MiFID II guidelines on the assessment of knowledge and competence which also deal, although under MiFID II, with the knowledge and competence of staff giving advice or information about investment products.
At the same time, certain provisions of the draft guidelines aim to ensure that the criteria for the assessment of knowledge and competence of staff members providing information or advice on crypto assets or crypto-asset services effectively address features and risks specific to crypto-assets markets and services and which are less prominent or absent in traditional financial markets. Therefore, staff giving information or advice on crypto-assets or crypto-asset services should be knowledgeable about the characteristics, risks and features of distributed ledger technology, crypto-asset services and crypto-assets.
The Annex to the draft guidelines includes illustrative examples of how a crypto-asset service provider might apply the draft guidelines.
Next steps
The deadline for comments on the consultation paper is 22 April 2025.
ESMA expects to publish a final report in Q3 2025.