EBA issues RTS on ARTs

On 13 March 2024, the EBA published the final draft technical standards on complaints handling for issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), based on Article 31(5) of MiCAR, which provides that the EBA shall develop, in close cooperation with ESMA, draft RTS to further specify the requirements, templates, and procedures for handling complaints.

The draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) set out the requirements regarding:

• Complaints management policy and function,

• The provision of information about the complaints-handling procedure to holders of ARTs and other interested parties,

• Templates for filing complaints and their languages,

• Recordings of all complaints through a secure electronic register,

• Languages for the description of the complaints handling procedure and in which complainants may file complaints,

• The procedure to investigate complaints and to communicate the outcomes of the investigations to complainants, and

• Specific provisions for complaints handling involving tokens distributed, partially or totally, through third-party entities.

  
  

The proposed RTS does not set out any specific timeframe for internally recording complaints and measures taken in response thereto. Instead, the draft RTS refers to the need to respect national timing requirements when applicable.

Once finalized and approved, the RTS shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.