Art. 1 Information about the identity of the applicant issuer | RTS on ART issuer authorisation | MiCA

This article sets out the identity information that an applicant issuer must include when submitting an application for authorisation under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114.

It is a foundational identification article, directly implementing the requirements of Article 18(2), points (a), (b) and (c) of that Regulation, and covers everything a competent authority would need to establish who the applicant is as a legal entity.

For legal persons falling under EU company law rules, the article also requires that certain information align with what is recorded in the relevant national business register.

Important points:

Provide comprehensive identity information in your authorisation application, including legal name, ISO 17442 legal entity identifier, legal form, registration details, constitutional documents, and contact details for both an internal point of contact and any professional adviser used.
Where the applicant issuer is not a legal person, documentation must be provided demonstrating that third-party interests, including token holders, are protected to an equivalent standard and that equivalent prudential supervision applies.
For legal persons within scope of Directive (EU) 2017/1132, the information on legal form, addresses, registration, and constitutional documents must match what is held in the national business register.

For the purposes of Article 18(2), points (a), (b) and (c), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, an application for authorisation shall contain all of the following information about the identity of the applicant issuer:
1. the applicant issuer’s current full legal name, trading name, logo, website addresses of all communication and marketing channels, including social media accounts and, where applicable, any intended changes to those names, accounts or addresses;
2. the applicant issuer’s validated, issued and duly renewed ISO 17442 legal entity identifier released in accordance with the terms of any of the accredited Local Operating Units of the Global Legal Entity Identifier System;
3. the applicant issuer’s legal form;
4. the date and Member State of the applicant issuer’s incorporation or formation;
5. the Member State and addresses of the applicant issuer’s registered office and, where different, of its head office, and of its principal place of business;
6. where the applicant issuer is registered in a central register, commercial register, companies register or similar public register different from the register referred to in the second subparagraph, the name of that register and the registration number of the applicant issuer or an equivalent means of identification in that register and a copy of the registration certificate;
7. the applicant issuer’s instruments of constitution or statute, and the articles of association;
8. where the applicant issuer is an undertaking that is not a legal person, a documentation assessing that the level of protection of third party interests, including the rights of the holders of an asset-referenced token, is equivalent to that afforded by legal persons and that the applicant issuer is subject to equivalent prudential supervision appropriate to its legal form;
9. the date of the accounting year end for the applicant issuer;
10. the full name and contact details, including the phone number and email address, of the person within the applicant issuer to contact regarding the application for authorisation;
11. the full name and contact details, including the phone number and email address, of the principal professional adviser, if any, used to prepare the application for authorisation.
For the purposes of points (c) to (g), as regards legal persons under the scope of Directive (EU) 2017/1132 of the European Parliament and of the Council(⁸), the information referred to in those points shall match the information contained in the national business register referred to in Article 16 of that Directive.