RTS on issuer complaints handling

In the interest of consumer protection, and in accordance with Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, 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, where applicable, the third-party entities as referred to in Article 34(5), first subparagraph, point (h), of that Regulation, should provide holders 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 other interested parties with information on the complaints handling procedures. Furthermore, those issuersmeans a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets; and third-party entities should make available to them a harmonised template in the languages that those issuersmeans a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets; and third-party entities use to market their services or in the languages that they use to communicate with the holder 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;.

In order to ensure transparency for complainants and enable them to effectively access and use complaint procedures, such information should include that their complaints are filed and handled free of charge, in the languages used by the 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, where applicable, the third-party entities, to market their services, or in the languages they use to communicate with the holder 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 in the official languages of the home Member Statemeans:where the offeror or person seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens has its registered office in the Union, the Member State where that offeror or person has its registered office;where the offeror or person seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens has no registered office in the Union but does have one or more branches in the Union, the Member State chosen by that offeror or person from among the Member States where it has branches;where the offeror or person seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens is established in a third country and has no branch in the Union, either the Member State where the crypto-assets are intended to be offered to the public for the first time or, at the choice of the offeror or person seeking admission to trading, the Member State where the first application for admission to trading of those crypto-assets is made;in the case of an issuer of asset-referenced tokens, the Member State where the issuer of asset-referenced tokens has its registered office;in the case of an issuer of e-money tokens, the Member State where the issuer of e-money tokens is authorised as a credit institution under Directive 2013/36/EU or as an electronic money institution under Directive 2009/110/EC;in the case of crypto-asset service providers, the Member State where the crypto-asset service provider has its registered office; and 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;, that are also official languages of the Union.

In order to avoid diverging complaints-handling procedures among 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 third-party entities, complainants should be able to file their complaints using a harmonised template in the complaints-handling procedures with those issuersmeans a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets;, and, where applicable, the third-party entities, irrespective of where those issuersmeans a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets; or third-party entities are established or where the token was distributed within the Union. However, even if the complainant files the complaint in a format other than the template, the issuermeans a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets;, and the third party entity, should still handle the complaint and not reject it for that reason.