Key European Parliament committee approves MiCA deal to regulate crypto-currencies

The European Parliament’s Economic Committee has also backed the introduction of traceability rules for crypto-currency transfers, as part of the latest EU anti-money laundering initiative.

EU’s MiCA cryptoasset law clears another hurdle before final adoption

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has approved the tentative agreement on landmark legislation to regulate the European Union’s crypto space. The vote, in which 28 members were in favor and only one against, comes before the Parliament’s plenary vote on the new framework.

MEPs from @EP_Economics voted to confirm w/ 28/1 provisional deal on markets in crypto assets #MICA @DrStefanBerger ahead of the final plenary vote
30 June deal details ⬇️⬇️🗒️https://t.co/zFPKaTxki9

– ECON Committee Press (@EP_Economics) October 10, 2022

Representatives of the main EU institutions and member states reached agreement on the MiCA proposal earlier this year. The Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) also approved the bill, the Council of the European Union announced last week.

MiCA is supposed to implement uniform regulations for crypto-assets across the 27-member bloc. Among the stated goals are to ensure consumer and environmental protection, as well as to introduce safeguards against market manipulation and related financial crime.

The package addresses digital assets that are not covered by existing EU financial services laws. It aims to regulate the activities of service providers related to crypto-currencies, including their issuance, exchange and trading.

” One step further… The result of the trilogue negotiation on MiCA has been accepted by the ECON committee. Good news“, said on Twitter the rapporteur for legislation, Stefan Berger, after ECON confirmed the agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

Combating the money laundering risks associated with crypto-assets is another priority for EU authorities. Lawmakers in ECON and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) also approved a provisional agreement on anti-money laundering (AML) rules for crypto-currency transfers, also reached in late June and aligned with MiCA.

Under these, a rule known as the “of travel” will be applied to crypto asset flows, whereby information about the source of the assets and the beneficiary accompany each transaction. Anti-money laundering regulations will also apply to transactions of “non-hosted wallets“, those of private users, when interacting with portfolios managed by service providers.