Virtual Financial Assets (Amendment No. 2) Regulations, 2024

Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta Nru. 21,339, 5 ta’ Novembru, 2024

L.N. 296 of 2024

VIRTUAL FINANCIAL ASSETS ACT

(CAP. 590)

Virtual Financial Assets (Amendment No. 2) Regulations, 2024

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 38 of the

Virtual Financial Assets Act, the Minister responsible for the

regulation of financial services, acting on the advice of the Malta

Financial Services Authority, has made the following regulations: -

(1) The title of these regulations is the Virtual Financial Citation and

Assets (Amendment No. 2) Regulations, 2024 and these regulations commencement.

shall be read and construed as one with the Virtual Financial Assets S.L. 590.01.

Regulations, hereinafter referred to as the "principal regulations".

(2) These regulations shall be deemed to have come into force

on 30 June 2024.

In regulation 9 of the principal regulations, the words Amends

"regulations 7 and 27," shall be substituted by the words "regulations regulation

the principal

7, 27 and 28,".

regulations.

Immediately after regulation 27 of the principal Adds new

regulations to

regulations, there shall be added the following new regulations

the principal

regulations.

(1) The provisions of regulation 6 shall

"Further transitory

provisions relating

cease to have effect

to fees.

(a) as of 30 June 2024 with respect to the

submission of white papers relating to e-money

tokens and asset-referenced tokens for

registration by the competent authority;

(b) as of 31 July 2024 with respect to the

submission of white papers relating to virtual

financial assets for registration by the competent

authority; and

(c) as of 31 July 2024 with respect to

applications submitted to the competent authority

for a licence to provide one or more VFA services.

(2) The supervisory fee due in relation to white

papers registered by the competent authority, as

established in the Third Column of the Schedule, shall

no longer be due

(a) as of 30 June 2024 with respect to such

white papers relating to e-money tokens and asset-

referenced tokens; and

(b) as of 30 December 2024 with respect to

such white papers relating to virtual financial

assets.

(3) Notwithstanding

the

provisions

of

regulation 7, the provisions of the said regulation shall

not apply to licence holders when their licence is

cancelled in accordance with article 66(2) of the Act.

(4) Upon the cancellation of a licence in

accordance with article 66(2) of the Act, the licence

holder shall be entitled to a pro-rata refund of the

applicable annual supervisory fee, as established in the

Third Column of the Schedule, for that year.

(5) Upon the deregistration of a white paper

relating to an e-money token in accordance with article

65(3) of the Act, that issuer of such e-money token shall

be entitled to a pro-rata refund of the applicable annual

supervisory fee, as established in the Third Column of

the Schedule, for that year.

(6) Upon the deregistration of a white paper

relating to a virtual financial asset in accordance with

article 65(4) of the Act, that issuer of such virtual

financial asset shall be entitled to a pro-rata refund of

the applicable annual supervisory fee, as established in

the Third Column of the Schedule, for that year.

(7) For the purposes of this regulation

(a) "asset-referenced tokens" shall have

the same meaning as that assigned to it in point

(6) of Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

(b) "e-money tokens" shall have the same

meaning as that assigned to it in point (7) of

Article 3(1) of the MiCA Regulation;

(c) "MiCA Regulation" means Regulation

(EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and

of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in

crypto-assets, and amending Regulations (EU) No

1093/2010 and (EU) No 1095/2010 and

Directives 2013/36/EU and (EU) 2019/1937, as

may be amended from time to time, and includes

any binding legal instruments, guidelines and

other measures that may have been or may be

issued thereunder; and

(d) "virtual financial assets" means any

form of digital medium recordation that is used as

a digital medium of exchange, unit of account, or

store of value and that is not

(i) electronic money;

(ii) a financial instrument;

(iii) a virtual token;

(iv) an e-money token; or

(v) an asset-referenced token.

The provisions of regulation 4 shall cease to

Further transitory

provisions relating

to exemptions from have effect as of 30 December 2024.".

licensing.

4. The principal regulations shall be repealed on 3 July 2026 Repeal.

without prejudice to anything done or omitted to be done thereunder.

B

€0.18