The purpose of the consultation is to obtain submissions on the transposition of national discretions included within MiCA. 

The four national discretions the consultation seeks feedback on include:

• Article 88 (1): Public disclosure of inside information
• Article  111 (2):  Administrative penalties and other administrative measures
• Article 143 (2): MiCA transition period; and
• Article 143 (6): Simplified authorisation procedure.

Section 5 of the consultation sets out detail of the national discretions contained within  MiCA and  the  Department  invites  comments  on  whether  these discretions should be availed of, how they should be availed of and clear reasoning for such a position

Deadline for comments is 15 September 2023. 

The bulletin outlines key issues identified through the assessment process, sets out the Central Bank’s expectations in relation to key AML/CFT requirements, and advises firms that registered VASPs, as with all supervised entities, will be subject to a supervisory levy.

The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act 2021, which gives effect to the European Union’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, requires VASPs to register with the Central Bank for AML/CFT purposes only. 

VASPs established in Ireland and carrying on business as a VASP immediately prior to the 2021 Act coming into force, have three months to apply to the Central Bank for registration. It will be a criminal offence to operate as a VASP in Ireland in the absence of registration.

For the purposes of the legislation, VASPs are firms that provide any of the following services relating to virtual assets:

a) exchange between virtual assets and fiat currencies;

b) exchange between one or more forms of virtual asset;

c) transfer of virtual assets, that is to say, to conduct a transaction on behalf of another person that moves a virtual asset from one virtual asset address or account to another;

d) custodian wallet provider; and

e) participation in, and provision of, financial services related to an issuer’s offer or sale of a virtual asset or both.