Article 21 Grant or refusal of the authorisation

Competent authoritiesmeans one or more authorities:designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 93 concerning offerors, persons seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, issuers of asset-referenced tokens, or crypto-asset service providers;designated by each Member State for the application of Directive 2009/110/EC concerning issuers of e-money tokens; shall, within 25 working days of receipt of the opinions referred to in Article 20(5), take a fully reasoned decision granting or refusing authorisation to the applicant issuermeans an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens who applies for authorisation to offer to the public or seeks the admission to trading of those crypto-assets; and, within five working days of taking that decision, notify it to the applicant issuermeans an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens who applies for authorisation to offer to the public or seeks the admission to trading of those crypto-assets;. Where an applicant issuermeans an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens who applies for authorisation to offer to the public or seeks the admission to trading of those crypto-assets; is authorised, its crypto-assetmeans a digital representation of a value or of a right that is able to be transferred and stored electronically using distributed ledger technology or similar technology; white paper shall be deemed to be approved.

1. the management bodymeans the body or bodies of an issuer, offeror or person seeking admission to trading, or of a crypto-asset service provider, which are appointed in accordance with national law, which are empowered to set the entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and which oversee and monitor management decision-making in the entity and include the persons who effectively direct the business of the entity; of the applicant issuermeans an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens who applies for authorisation to offer to the public or seeks the admission to trading of those crypto-assets; might pose a threat to its effective, sound and prudent management and business continuity and to the adequate consideration of the interest of its clientsmeans any natural or legal person to whom a crypto-asset service provider provides crypto-asset services; and the integrity of the market;

2. members of the management bodymeans the body or bodies of an issuer, offeror or person seeking admission to trading, or of a crypto-asset service provider, which are appointed in accordance with national law, which are empowered to set the entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and which oversee and monitor management decision-making in the entity and include the persons who effectively direct the business of the entity; do not meet the criteria set out in Article 34(2);

3. shareholders and members, whether direct or indirect, that have qualifying holdingsmeans any direct or indirect holding in an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or in a crypto-asset service provider which represents at least 10 % of the capital or of the voting rights, as set out in Articles 9 and 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(32) Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and amending Directive 2001/34/EC (OJ L 390, 31.12.2004, p. 38)., respectively, taking into account the conditions for the aggregation thereof laid down in Article 12(4) and (5) of that Directive, or which makes it possible to exercise a significant influence over the management of the issuer of asset-referenced tokens or the management of the crypto-asset service provider in which that holding subsists; do not meet the criteria of sufficiently good repute set out in Article 34(4);

4. the applicant issuermeans an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens who applies for authorisation to offer to the public or seeks the admission to trading of those crypto-assets; fails to meet or is likely to fail to meet any of the requirements of this Title;

5. the applicant issuermeans an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens who applies for authorisation to offer to the public or seeks the admission to trading of those crypto-assets;’s business model might pose a serious threat to market integrity, financial stability, the smooth operation of payment systems, or exposes the issuermeans a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets; or the sector to serious risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

EBA and ESMA shall, by 30 June 2024, jointly issue guidelines in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 and Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010, respectively, on the assessment of the suitability of the members of the management bodymeans the body or bodies of an issuer, offeror or person seeking admission to trading, or of a crypto-asset service provider, which are appointed in accordance with national law, which are empowered to set the entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and which oversee and monitor management decision-making in the entity and include the persons who effectively direct the business of the entity; of issuersmeans a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets; of asset-referenced tokensmeans a type of crypto-asset that is not an electronic money token and that purports to maintain a stable value by referencing another value or right or a combination thereof, including one or more official currencies; and of the shareholders and members, whether direct or indirect, that have qualifying holdingsmeans any direct or indirect holding in an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or in a crypto-asset service provider which represents at least 10 % of the capital or of the voting rights, as set out in Articles 9 and 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(32) Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and amending Directive 2001/34/EC (OJ L 390, 31.12.2004, p. 38)., respectively, taking into account the conditions for the aggregation thereof laid down in Article 12(4) and (5) of that Directive, or which makes it possible to exercise a significant influence over the management of the issuer of asset-referenced tokens or the management of the crypto-asset service provider in which that holding subsists; in issuersmeans a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets; of asset-referenced tokensmeans a type of crypto-asset that is not an electronic money token and that purports to maintain a stable value by referencing another value or right or a combination thereof, including one or more official currencies;.

Competent authoritiesmeans one or more authorities:designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 93 concerning offerors, persons seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, issuers of asset-referenced tokens, or crypto-asset service providers;designated by each Member State for the application of Directive 2009/110/EC concerning issuers of e-money tokens; shall also refuse authorisation if the ECB or, where applicable, the central bank gives a negative opinion under Article 20(5) on the grounds of a risk posed to the smooth operation of payment systems, monetary policy transmission, or monetary sovereignty.

Competent authoritiesmeans one or more authorities:designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 93 concerning offerors, persons seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, issuers of asset-referenced tokens, or crypto-asset service providers;designated by each Member State for the application of Directive 2009/110/EC concerning issuers of e-money tokens; shall, within two working days of granting authorisation, communicate to the single point of contact of the host Member Statesmeans the Member State where an offeror or person seeking admission to trading has made an offer to the public of crypto-assets or is seeking admission to trading, or where a crypto-asset service provider provides crypto-asset services, where different from the home Member State;, to ESMA, to EBA, to the ECB and, where applicable, to the central bank referred to in Article 20(4), the information specified in Article 109(3).

ESMA shall make such information available in the register, under Article 109(3), by the starting date of the offer to the publicmeans a communication to persons in any form, and by any means, presenting sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the crypto-assets to be offered so as to enable prospective holders to decide whether to purchase those crypto-assets; or admission to trading.

Competent authoritiesmeans one or more authorities:designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 93 concerning offerors, persons seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, issuers of asset-referenced tokens, or crypto-asset service providers;designated by each Member State for the application of Directive 2009/110/EC concerning issuers of e-money tokens; shall inform EBA, ESMA, the ECB and, where applicable, the central bank referred to in Article 20(4), of all requests for authorisations refused, and provide the underlying reasoning for the decision and, where applicable, an explanation for any deviation from the opinions referred to in Article 20(5).