The European Banking Authority (EBA) has proposed conflict of interest standards for asset-referenced tokens under MiCAR. Specifically, the EBA has released a consultation paper introducing draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) that outline the requirements for policies and procedures addressing conflicts of interest for issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR).

These draft RTS are designed to enhance conflict of interest management by ART issuers and promote uniformity in requirements across the European Union. According to the proposed standards, issuers of ARTs are mandated to establish and uphold effective policies and procedures aimed at identifying, preventing, managing, and disclosing conflicts of interest. These policies should include a comprehensive consideration of all circumstances that may influence or be perceived to influence the impartiality and objectivity of decisions made by issuers or their connected parties.

The draft RTS highlights specific attention to conflicts of interest related to asset reserves, addresses personal transactions, and emphasises that issuer remuneration procedures, policies, and arrangements should not give rise to conflicts of interest. The main responsibility for defining and adopting conflicts of interest policies and procedures rests with the management bodies of issuers, as emphasised in the draft RTS. This release constitutes part of the third batch of MiCAR policy products.

Concerning the consultation process, stakeholders can submit their comments on the consultation paper by 7 March 2024. The EBA will conduct a virtual public hearing on 11 January 2024, and interested parties are encouraged to register by 9 January 2024. The legal basis for these regulatory technical standards The legal basis for these draft RTS stems from Article 32(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-Assets, which requires ART issuers to establish effective conflict of interest policies and procedures.

The EBA has developed these standards in accordance with Article 32(5) of the same regulation, which mandates the authority to specify conflict of interest requirements for ART issuers and details and methodology for disclosure content. According to the official announcement, the EBA collaborated closely with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) during the mandate elaboration. ESMA is tasked with developing similar RTS for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) under Article 72(5) of the regulation.

While the draft RTS aligns with the CASP standards to ensure convergence, certain justified differences exist due to the distinct nature of the involved activities. .