Art. 5 Design of stress testing programme | RTS on stress test programmes | MiCA

This article sets out the overarching requirements for how issuers of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens must design, maintain, and govern their stress testing programme.

It establishes that the programme must be viable, realistic, and drive informed decision-making across all management levels.

The article is notably detailed in its design requirements, listing a wide range of elements issuers must consider when building the programme, from model assumptions and data infrastructure to management involvement and regulatory feedback.

It also emphasises that the programme must be an organisation-wide effort, with input from multiple business units, internal auditors, and external experts, and that senior management and the management body hold ultimate responsibility for its oversight.

Important points:

Ensure your stress testing programme is viable, realistic, and reviewed on an annual basis to reflect both external and internal conditions.
The programme must be evaluated across the organisation, with contributions from business units not involved in its design, internal auditors, and external experts where relevant.
Senior management and the management body are responsible for reviewing, monitoring, and overseeing the programme and its updates.

1. Issuers of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens shall ensure that their stress testing programme is viable and realistic, and that stress testing results in informed decision-making at all management level on all existing and potential risks having material impact on the financial situation of the issuer.
1. Issuers of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens shall regularly review and assess their stress testing programme to determine its effectiveness, robustness and suitability both with regard to the risk characteristics of the relevant issuer itself and that of the relevant tokens issued and shall keep it updated. This assessment shall be made on an annual basis and shall fully reflect the external and internal conditions.
1. When designing the stress testing programme, issuers of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens shall consider all the following elements:
  1. the effectiveness of the programme in meeting its intended purposes;
  2. the need for improvements;
  3. the identified risk factors, reasoning for and design of relevant scenarios, model assumptions and the sensitivity of results to these assumptions, as well as the role of expert judgement to ensure that it is accompanied by sound analysis;
  4. the model performance, including its performance on out-of-sample data, such as data that were not used for model development;
  5. how to incorporate possible solvency-liquidity adverse loops;
  6. the adequacy of possible interlinkages between solvency stress tests and liquidity stress tests;
  7. feedback received from competent authorities in the context of their supervisory or other stress tests;
  8. the adequacy of the data infrastructure (systems implementation and data quality);
  9. the appropriate level of involvement of senior management and the management body;
  10. all assumptions including business and/or managerial assumptions, and management actions envisaged, based on the purpose, type and result of the stress testing, including an assessment of the feasibility of management actions in stress situations and a changing business environment;
  11. the adequacy and transparency of the relevant documentation.
1. The stress testing programme shall be appropriately documented for all types of stress tests carried out.
1. The stress testing programme shall be evaluated across the organisation, for instance by the risk committee and internal auditors. Business units not responsible for the design and application of the programme or external experts shall also contribute to the assessment of this process, taking into account the relevant expertise for specific subjects.
1. Issuers of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens shall ensure, both for the initial design and for the assessment of the stress testing programme, that an effective dialogue has taken place with the involvement of experts from all business areas of the issuer and that the programme and its updates have been properly reviewed by the senior management and management body of the issuer, who are also responsible for monitoring its execution and oversight.