This is Part 1 of the series ‘Meet MiCA – the new global standard for crypto-asset regulation’.

MiCA was conceived in a complex-to-understand regulatory environment. First, certain types of crypto-assets were already regulated, notably by MiFID. Second, there were the generally applicable pre-existing laws, such as the rules on anti-money laundering. Third, to the extent there were no EU rules, Member States, for example France, had already introduced their own rules on crypto assets, and it could be expected that others would follow suit.

Against this background, the European Commission felt that there was too much legal and regulatory uncertainty, denting the confidence of users and hence hampering the development of this innovative market. Additionally, the risk of increasing fragmentation amongst Member States would have led to significantly lower levels of efficiency, thereby causing a competitive disadvantage for Europe. At the same time, as both businesses and retail investors can be expected to adopt the use of crypto assets, the legislator identified a need to protect the former from risks and create a framework that supports the integrity of the crypto markets more generally.

The ensuing legal text, MiCA, must be read in this light. Achieving the different policy goals described above requires a multi-dimensional approach, defining the perimeter based on both institution and activity, and applying a variety of regulatory tools, for example disclosure, licencing regimes, as well as governance and resilience requirements.

This live seminar is dedicated to exploring the logic and structure of MiCA. The aim is to develop, together with our expert guest, a complete map of its scope of application and regulatory mechanisms. The subsequent Parts 2-5 of this series are dedicated to exploring the most relevant regulatory issues in more depth.

YOUR PANEL
Philipp Paech is the founder of navigatingfintech.com and a passionate educator, consultant and policy-maker specialising in regulation of financial services for more than 20 years. He is the main author of the 30 Recommendations on Innovation, Regulation and Finance instituted by the EU Commission in 2018, which became one of the base documents of the EU’s current Digital Finance Strategy. He is a leading member of the Unidroit global digital asset expert group. Philipp researches and teaches at London School of Economics and the European University Institute in Florence.

Peter Kerstens advises on Technological Innovation, Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. He has led work on the European Commission’s Fintech Action Plan and Co-chairs the European Commission’s Fintech Taskforce. He has extensive experience and expertise in EU policy and regulation covering financial services, digitalisation, security and consumer protection. Earlier in his career, Peter was Finance Counsellor at the EU Embassy in Washington DC. He has also been a member of the private offices of the commissioner for the internal market and services and the commissioner for health and consumer protection. Before joining the European Commission, Peter advised major financial services companies on EU regulatory affairs. He is a Dutch national and holds master degrees in European affairs and political science from the College of Europe in Bruges and the University of Leuven, Belgium.

Raphaëlle P. Soffe recently graduated from Harvard College with Highest Honours in Social Studies. While at Harvard, Raphaëlle was a Juster Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and a Teaching Fellow for Harvard’s core econometrics course. She further published on the history of U.S.-China copyright treaty relations and secured the Thomas Hoopes Prize for her work on U.K. austerity policies. Raphaëlle is presently completing her MSc in Regulation at the London School of Economics and is taking both of Professor Paech’s courses: international financial law; and international regulation law. Outside of school, Raphaëlle is active in her local community back in Wales where she’s a local councillor.