Governance and fit-and-proper management, conflicts of interest, inducements, outsourcing and wind-down plans, and the transition from national regimes to MiCA.
Governance and management
- Members of the management body must be of good repute and have the knowledge, skills and experience for the role.
- Firms need clear reporting lines, internal controls and risk-management procedures.
- Records of services and transactions must be kept.
Conflicts of interest
- Firms must identify, prevent, manage and disclose conflicts of interest.
- Typical conflicts: proprietary trading against clients, listing tokens the firm holds, staff incentives tied to sales.
- Disclosure is the last line of defence, not the first.
Inducements
- Fees or benefits from third parties can bias advice.
- Independent advisers may not keep them.
- Whatever the model, be transparent with the client about who pays whom.
Outsourcing and wind-down
- A firm that outsources a function keeps full responsibility for it.
- Firms offering custody, trading platforms, exchange, order execution or placing need a plan for an orderly wind-down.
- Know which critical services depend on third parties.
From national regimes to MiCA
- Firms already operating under national law could, where their member state allowed it, keep going during a transition period.
- That period ends on 1 July 2026 at the latest.
- Check each provider's status in the ESMA register before relying on it.
Key takeaways
- The supervisor looks at the firm, not just the adviser.
- Manage conflicts first; disclosure alone is not enough.
- The MiCA transition period has ended: check the register.
Sources
Educational content only, not legal, tax or investment advice. Based on Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) and related EU texts as of September 2026. Check the official texts before relying on anything here.