Please find enclosed the current issue of our newsletter. As always, it provides information on a wide range of current regulatory topics in Europe, including the following:

• In the EU, implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCAR) was an important topic in the first half of 2024. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) published joint guidelines on the suitability of members of the management body of cryptoasset service providers. In addition, the EBA published several regulatory technical standards and guidelines on reporting, liquidity stress testing, governance and other regulatory issues as part of MiCAR.
• Furthermore, the fight against money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) remains an important topic in the EU. The European Parliament and the Council have adopted Directive (EU) 2024/1640 and Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, which aim to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing in the financial sector. In addition, the new Regulation (EU) 2024/1620 formally establishes the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Authority (AMLA), which will directly supervise selected entities in the financial sector that pose a high ML/TF risk.
• The implementation of MiCAR also plays an important role in the Czech Republic. Here, the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic decided on the draft Digital Finance Act, which aims to implement EU regulations in the area of digital finance, namely the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and MiCAR.
• In Germany, BaFin focused on the regulation of payment service providers under the Payment Services Supervision Act (Zahlungsdiensteaufsichtsgesetz – ZAG). In this context, BaFin published the first circular on the minimum risk management requirements for payment and e-money institutions. In addition, BaFin published a circular for payment service providers on the reporting of risks in payment transactions. The circular sets out how payment service providers must report operational and security-related risks to the supervisory authorities in accordance with the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) and the ZAG.
• The issue of combating money laundering also appears to play an important role in Italy. In this context, the Bank of Italy has launched a public consultation on amendments to its AML regulation on internal control and organization in order to improve the effectiveness of AML measures. In addition, the Institute for Insurance Supervision (IVASS) published amendments to the AML regulations for insurance companies, which contain provisions on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing in relation to organization, procedures and internal controls as well as customer verification.
• In the Netherlands, the authorities were primarily concerned with the implementation of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). As the date DORA comes into force approaches, the Dutch National Bank (DNB) has published the key results of its annual survey in which it asks institutions about the status of implementation of these regulations. In addition, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) has published a checklist for companies to prepare for the implementation of DORA.

We hope that you will enjoy and benefit from the enhanced insights of the Financial Regulatory Hub Europe. We would very much appreciate your feedback on the new format or thoughts on how we can better meet your needs—we look forward to hearing from you.

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