Art. 1 Programme of operations | RTS on notification of crypto-asset service provision | MiCA

This is the foundational and most extensive article of the regulation, establishing the core disclosure requirements that a notifying entity must submit to its competent authority as part of its programme of operations.

Directly implementing Article 60(7)(a) of MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), it sets out a comprehensive picture of what a prospective crypto-asset service provider must reveal about its planned business over the three years following notification.

The article covers the full breadth of a business plan: from group structure and affiliated entities, to planned services, target markets, marketing strategies, outsourcing arrangements, resources, and financial forecasts.

Two additional service-specific obligations are layered on top: entities intending to receive and transmit orders must supply compliance procedures for Article 80 of MiCA, and those intending to place crypto-assets must provide conflict of interest procedures in line with Article 79 of MiCA.

Important points:

Submit a three-year programme of operations to the competent authority covering all planned crypto-asset services, target clients, geographical reach, marketing, resources, outsourcing, and financial projections.
Where the notifying entity is part of a corporate group, provide a full explanation of how its activities fit within the group structure, including details on affiliated and regulated entities.
Additional, service-specific documentation is required depending on the services planned — notably conflict of interest procedures for placing of crypto-assets, and compliance arrangements for reception and transmission of orders.

1. For the purposes of Article 60(7), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, the notifying entity shall provide to the competent authority the programme of operations for the 3 years following the date of notification, including the following information:
  1. where the notifying entity belongs to a group as defined in Article 2, point (11), of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(⁶), an explanation of how the activities of the notifying entity fit within that group strategy and interact with the activities of the other entities of that group, including an overview of the current and planned organisation and structure of that group;
  2. an explanation of how the activities of the entities affiliated with the notifying entity, including where there are regulated entities in the group, is expected to impact the activities of the notifying entity, including a list of and information on the entities affiliated with the notifying entity, and where there are regulated entities, the services provided by these entities and the domain names of each website operated by such entities;
  3. a list of crypto-asset services that the notifying entity intends to provide and the types of crypto-assets to which the crypto-asset services will relate;
  4. other planned activities, regulated in accordance with Union or national law or unregulated, including any other services than crypto-asset services, that the notifying entity intends to provide;
  5. whether the notifying entity intends to offer crypto-assets to the public or seeks admission to trading of crypto-assets and if so, what type of crypto-assets;
  6. a list of jurisdictions, both in the Union and in third countries, in which the notifying entity plans to provide crypto-asset services, including information on the targeted number of clients by geographical area;
  7. types of prospective clients targeted by the notifying entitity’s crypto-asset services;
  8. a description of the means of access to the notifying entity’s crypto-asset services by clients, including all of the following:
    the domain names for each website or other ICT-based application through which the crypto-asset services will be provided by the notifying entity and information on the languages in which the website or other ICT-based application will be available, the types of crypto-asset services that will be accessed through that website or other ICT-based application and, where applicable, from which Member States the website or other ICT-based application will be accessible;
    the name of any ICT-based application available to clients to access the crypto-asset services, the languages in which that ICT-based application is available and the crypto-asset services which can be accessed through that ICT-based application;
  9. the planned marketing and promotional activities and arrangements for the crypto-asset services, including the following:
    all means of marketing to be used for each of the services;
    the intended means of identification of the notifying entity;
    information on the relevant category of clients targeted;
    types of crypto-assets;
    languages that will be used for the marketing and promotional activities;
  10. a detailed description of the human, financial and ICT resources allocated to the intended crypto-asset services, and their geographical location;
  11. the notifying entity’s outsourcing policy and how it was adapted to crypto-asset services as well as a detailed description of the notifying entity’s planned outsourcing arrangements, including intra-group arrangements, and the way that the notifying entity will comply with Article 73 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, including information on the function or person responsible for outsourcing, the human and ICT resources allocated to the control of the outsourced functions, services or activities of the related arrangements and on the risk assessment related to the outsourcing;
  12. the list of entities that will provide outsourced services for the provision of crypto-asset services, their geographical location and the relevant services outsourced;
  13. a forecast accounting plan including stress scenarios at an individual and, where applicable, at a consolidated group and sub-consolidated level in accordance with Directive 2013/34/EU, taking into consideration any intra-group loans granted or to be granted by and to the notifying entity;
  14. any exchange of crypto-assets for funds and other crypto-asset activities that the notifying entity intends to undertake, including through any decentralised finance applications with which the notifying entity intends to interact on its own account.
1. Where the notifying entity intends to provide the service of reception and transmission of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients, it shall provide to the competent authority a copy of the procedures and a description of the arrangements ensuring compliance with Article 80 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114.
1. Where the notifying entity intends to provide the service of placing of crypto-assets, it shall provide to the competent authority a copy of procedures to identify, prevent, manage and disclose conflicts of interests and a description of the arrangements in place to comply with Article 79 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 and Commission Delegated Regulation establishing technical standards adopted pursuant to Article 72(5) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114.