Standard Chartered Gains MiCA License as ESMA Register Grows to 280 Firms

The European Securities and Markets Authority updated its register of crypto firms for the first time since the European Union’s transition period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, ended. Global bank Standard Chartered was among the additions.

Cointelegraph reported on July 3 that ESMA added 37 crypto-asset service providers, or CASPs, in the latest update. Standard Chartered was included after receiving MiCA authorization from Luxembourg’s financial regulator on June 25.

The newly registered firms also included digital-asset prime broker FalconX, Sygnum Europe and Ronin EM. CACEIS, a unit of Crédit Agricole, was added to the electronic money token, or EMT, register. The update increased the number of companies on ESMA’s temporary MiCA register to 280 from 243 on June 26.

Standard Chartered also obtained an electronic money institution, or EMI, license alongside its MiCA approval. The EMI license allows holders to issue electronic money and provide payment services. Margaret Harwood-Jones, the bank’s global head of financing, called the MiCA and EMI licenses a key step in expanding its digital-asset business in Europe.

By country, Cyprus recorded the most new approvals with six. France, Italy and Malta each added five, while the Czech Republic and Spain added four apiece. Luxembourg added three, the Netherlands two, and Germany, Liechtenstein and Latvia one each. On a cumulative basis, Germany’s BaFin remained the EU authority with the most MiCA approvals at 58.