MADRID, June 26 (Reuters) – Spain’s market watchdog will grant no extensions or waivers to crypto firms that fail to secure licences under the EU’s landmark MiCA \u200bregime, its chair Carlos San Basilio said on Friday, when asked about \u200cmajor platforms, including Binance, which do not have licences.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Crypto companies have until the end of June to secure MiCA licences or wind down operations in the EU<\/p>\n San Basilio \u200bsaid at an event in Santander that “there will be no exceptions \u200bor extensions” to the deadline, adding the regulator is in \u2060close contact with firms that have not obtained authorisation to ensure an \u200borderly wind-down of operations.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, crypto platform Binance vowed to stay<\/a> in the \u200bEU as it was trying to make a fresh push for permission to operate there, after its attempt to get a licence in Greece failed, threatening access for millions of \u200busers.<\/p>\n Asked about Binance, San Basilio acknowledged the challenge is greater for platforms \u200bwith millions of users across Europe, saying regulators are monitoring how they transfer client assets \u200cand \u2060cash to other providers while safeguarding investor rights.<\/p>\n “What we are concerned about, however, is how this period \u2013 the end of the transitional period \u2013 will unfold, and how the adaptation to the new environment will take place; that is why \u200bwe are in \u200bcontact with the \u2060organisations that have not been granted a licence,” he said.<\/p>\n The CNMV’s priority is to ensure customers are protected during \u200bthe transition, requiring firms to clearly communicate their exit \u200bplans, he \u2060said.<\/p>\n Investors will not be able to carry out new transactions with unauthorised platforms and would not benefit from MiCA protections if they do so, he added.<\/p>\n Enforcement \u2060of the \u200bregulations is down to each individual member \u200bstate, though there are proposals to give the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) greater powers in \u200bfuture.<\/p>\n Reporting by Jes\u00fas Aguado; additional reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; editing by Chizu Nomiyama <\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n