On 5 February 2025, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued its opinion on the European Commission’s (Commission) proposed amendments to the draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the requirements for policies and procedures on conflicts of interest for issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR).

Last summer the EBA submitted to the Commission the draft RTS. When developing the draft RTS the EBA took into account recent reports of governance failures, specifically regarding failures to identify and manage effectively conflicts of interest, within the crypto-asset market globally, and to requirements applicable within the traditional EU financial sector addressed at mitigating conflicts of interest. In November 2024, the Commission informed the EBA of its intention to endorse, with amendments, the draft RTS and sent to the EBA a modified version setting out the envisaged changes.

In the opinion now published the EBA agrees with the substantive changes proposed by the Commission, which favour proportionality, as well as with the other amendments which are considered non-substantives.