05-02-2025 
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On April 25, the European Banking Authority (EBA), an independent regulatory body focusing on financial stability across the European Union’s banking sector, published a new draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) that define when crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) have to appoint a “central contact point” in an EU member state’s territory, and what role it plays.
Digital asset firms often operate across multiple jurisdictions, leveraging decentralized networks and technologies. For this reason, central contact points (CCPs) act as a bridge between the digital asset company and the host Member State, ensuring that the former adheres to local financial crime rules, even when they operate outside of traditional branch models.
“A central contact point can be an important tool in the fight against financial crime,” said the EBA. “Central contact points can help mitigate the money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks associated with the cross-border provision of crypto asset services and facilitate adequate AML/CFT [anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism] supervision and oversight.”
The EBA’s draft RTS sets out the conditions under which CASPs should appoint a CCP and its roles and responsibilities. Principally, the CCP is required to ensure that the electronic money issuer, payment services provider, and/or CASP that appointed it complies with the AML/CFT rules of the host Member State.
The CCP is also responsible for informing the head office of its appointing company of any breaches or compliance issues encountered in the local establishment and ensuring corrective action is taken. Another provision requires CCPs to respond to any request made by competent authorities—the local relevant regulators and enforcement agencies—related to its appointing company’s activity, including providing information held by the company and reporting regularly where appropriate.
The draft RTS also provided information on how and when to appoint a CCP. Specifically, it noted that a CCP may have to be appointed if an entity’s operations in a host Member State exceed certain thresholds, or if the ML/TF risk is increased. This means that most CASPs that do not carry out material business in the host Member State and do not present high ML/TF risk will not have to appoint a CCP.
The EBA clarified that the draft RTS does not define the form a CCP should take or where it should be based in the EU.
Draft consultation background
The EBA was tasked with developing the RTS as part of the passage of the EU’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. The stablecoin provisions of this regulation came into force last June, followed by the full framework for CASPs at the end of December.
Based on MiCA, the EU’s 27 member states may require electronic money issuers, payment service providers, or CASPs that are established on their territory, “in forms other than a branch,” and whose head office is situated in another member state to appoint a CCP in their territory.This means that the EBA has to update its regulation to clarify how a CCP should be appointed and what function it will serve.
In December, the EBA launched a public consultation on the draft RTS, specifying the criteria for which CASPs should appoint a CCP to ensure compliance with local AML/CFT obligations of the host member state.
Highlights of the draft included that a CCP must be appointed when CASP operations meet specific thresholds, such as cumulative transaction volumes exceeding €3 million ($3.4 million) per financial year; host member states may require CCPs for operations deemed high-risk, regardless of transaction volume; CCPs must ensure CASPs comply with local AML/CFT rules; and CCPs must represent CASPs in communications with host Member State authorities.
The consultation on the draft ran until February 4, 2025.
When publishing its recent updated criteria for appointing CCPs, the EBA noted that, overall, the feedback received during the consultation had considered the draft proposals “reasonable” and “appreciated that the EBA’s intention was to keep the regulatory burden for CASPs to a necessary minimum.”
The draft also received external praise, with Leitner & Associates, a law firm specializing in commercial and tax criminal law, calling the EBA’s proposed criteria for appointing CCPs “a critical step toward a more secure and compliant crypto-asset ecosystem in the EU.”
The firm added that “by bridging regulatory gaps and enhancing oversight, these measures will play a vital role in preventing money laundering and terrorist financing in the fast-evolving crypto sector.”
The final report on the RTS is expected in Q2 2025, which will pave the way for full implementation.
Watch | Yves Mersch: Regulatory frameworks for digital currency in Europe
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