Procedure according to Art. 60 (CASPs), Art. 17 (ART) and Art. 48 (EMT) MiCAR

This page is intended for companies already licensed in Liechtenstein by the FMA. These include the following:

Certain financial entities (listed in Art. 60 MiCAR) that wish to provide the crypto-asset services listed therein (these are credit institutions, central securities depositories, investment firms, e-money institutions, UCITS management companies, alternative investment fund managers and market operators within the meaning of Directive 2014/65/EU);
Credit institutions that wish to issue, publicly offer or apply for admission to trading of ART (Art. 17 MiCAR); and
Credit or e-money institutions that issue, publicly offer or wish to apply for admission to trading of EMTs (Art. 48 MiCAR).

Roadmap of the FMA Liechtenstein

The following graph provides a rough overview of the roadmap.

timeline2

The FMA has been available for initial informal discussions since June 2024. These discussions are to provide initial guidance on timing and content. Further information on the informal discussions can be found here.

The FMA has been accepting preliminary applications since October. Applications and notifications can only be submitted formally once MiCAR has come into force (i.e. once the EEA MiCAR Implementation Act has entered into force).

If you are interested in submitting a preliminary application, please contact the FMA Liechtenstein (fintech@fma-li.li). We will send you the documents required for submission after an informal discussion.

Expectations and preparation

As part of the regular licensing procedure, applicants must actively demonstrate to the FMA that they fulfill the licensing requirements. In terms of time, the procedures prescribed by MiCAR are extremely stringent. Since a step-by-step development of the application within these deadlines is only possible to a very limited extent, complete and high-quality applications are an indispensable prerequisite for obtaining a license.

In view of this, we recommend the following measures, among others:

Familiarize yourself with the European approval requirements, and check at an early stage whether and how you can provide the required documentation.
Take advantage of the opportunity to submit preliminary applications. Please note that even preliminary applications are expected to be as complete and of as high a quality as possible.
If necessary, seek the advice of experts who are experienced in financial market law licensing procedures, both in terms of business and legal matters, and, if necessary, seek their representation.

Questions regarding the admission regime

It is already possible to ask the FMA specific questions about individual points of the licensing requirements. Please send your questions, including analysis and reasoned conclusion, to fintech@fma-li.li.

Please note the following: Neither the MiCAR Implementing Act nor the Ordinance on Markets for Crypto Assets (MiCAR) are currently applicable in Liechtenstein. In addition, the interpretation of MiCAR-related questions usually depends on European requirements that are currently not yet available or not yet sufficiently concrete. Our response therefore only reflects our current, non-binding understanding. A legally binding assessment can only be made in the context of a specific set of facts in the context of subordination requests, licensing or supervisory procedures.

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