Summary ESMA urges stronger European crypto enforcement powers, including asset freezes, website removals and tighter marketing and disclosure requirements.
PARIS (Reuters) - The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said on Wednesday that European regulators should be given stronger powers to enforce crypto rules, including the ability to freeze assets suspected of being linked to crime.
ESMA said national regulators enforcing the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules should be able to remove websites promoting scams or unauthorised crypto companies. Regulators and ESMA should also have greater powers to order crypto firms to freeze assets linked to financial crime, money laundering or terrorist financing.
The watchdog said lengthy procedures often mean suspicious crypto assets disappear before they can be frozen. It also proposed banning certain misleading crypto marketing practices, introducing rules for third-party marketing and giving regulators powers to act against non-EU firms that solicit EU investors without authorisation.
ESMA further proposed requiring crypto companies to provide customers with full cost information. The proposals form part of its response to a consultation on the review of MiCA rules, amid concerns among some regulators over divergent approaches and uneven enforcement.
