Art. 15 Execution policy | RTS on CASP authorisation | MiCA

This article applies specifically to applicants seeking authorisation to execute orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients.

It builds directly on Article 62(2)(p) of MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) by detailing what must be submitted to the competent authority as part of the authorisation application — namely, a comprehensive execution policy.

The article covers the full scope of what that policy must address: from obtaining client consent and selecting trading venues, to ensuring the best possible result for clients, preventing internal misuse of order information, and being able to demonstrate compliance upon request.

Important points:

Submit a detailed execution policy to the competent authority covering venue selection, execution strategy, client consent, and quality monitoring arrangements.
Confirm that no remuneration, discount, or non-monetary benefit will be received in return for routing orders to a particular trading platform.
Put in place arrangements to prevent misuse of client order information by employees, and to notify clients of any material changes to the execution policy.

For the purposes of Article 62(2), point (p), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, applicants that intend to execute orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients shall provide to the competent authority their execution policy, including all of the following:

the arrangements ensuring that the client has provided consent on the execution policy prior to the execution of the order;
a list of the trading platforms for crypto-assets on which the applicant will rely for the execution of orders and the criteria for the assessment of execution venues included in the execution policy in accordance with Article 78(6) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114;
which trading platforms the applicant intends to use for each type of crypto-assets and confirmation that the applicant will not receive any form of remuneration, discount or non-monetary benefit in return for routing orders received to a particular trading platform for crypto-assets;
how the execution takes into account price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size, nature, conditions of custody of the crypto-assets or any other relevant factors that are considered as part of all necessary steps to obtain the best possible result for the client;
where applicable, the arrangements for informing clients that the applicant will execute orders outside a trading platform and how the applicant will obtain the prior express consent of its clients before executing such orders;
how the client is warned that any specific instructions from a client may prevent the applicant from taking the necessary steps, in line with the arrangements that the applicant has established and implemented in its execution policy, to obtain the best possible result for the execution of those orders in respect of the elements covered by those instructions;
the selection process for trading venues, execution strategies employed, the arrangements used to analyse the quality of execution obtained and how the applicant monitors and verifies that the best possible results were obtained for clients;
the arrangements to prevent the misuse of any information relating to clients’ orders by the employees of the applicant;
the arrangements and procedures for how the applicant will disclose to clients information on its order execution policy and notify them of any material changes to their order execution policy;
the arrangements to demonstrate compliance with Article 78 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 to the competent authority, upon the request of that competent authority.