The Department of Finance has published its Feedback Statement on its consultation on the limited national discretions available under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA).

Notably, following ESMA’s request that Member States reduce the grandfathering period under MiCA to a maximum of 12 months, the Department of Finance has confirmed that Ireland will reduce it to 12 months.  Otherwise, the grandfathering period could have run from end-December 2024 to 1 July 2026.

Other decisions confirmed in the Feedback Statement are:

• Where public disclosure of inside information is to be delayed, an explanation must be provided in all cases (aligned with the equivalent requirements under the Market Abuse Regulation). Ireland will not exercise the discretion for the explanation to be provided on request only.
• The Central Bank’s Administrative Sanctions Procedure (ASP) will apply to breaches of MiCA, and where the ‘minimum maximum’ penalties set out in MiCA are lower than those under the ASP, the Irish MiCA Regulations will increase those penalties to equate to those under the ASP.
• Ireland will not avail of the discretion to give existing virtual asset service providers (VASPs) a simpler authorisation process under MiCA, given that the VASP registration process is not comparable to the MiCA authorisation process.

Transposing regulations will be published by 30 June 2024.  Amendments to the Central Bank Act 1942 will also be needed to bring MiCA into the scope of the ASP.  MiCA will apply from 30 December 2024, save for Titles III and IV (the framework for stablecoins (asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens)) which will apply from 30 June 2024.

For more information, read our recent MiCA updates:

MiCA and recast Transfer of Funds Regulation published in Official Journal – Arthur Cox LLP

MiCA: ESMA pushes for shorter grandfathering period – Arthur Cox LLP