Cap. 647 Art. 12Refusal of the authorisation.

(1) The competent authority shall refuse to grant authorisation under Article 21 of the MiCA Regulation and article 11, to offer asset-referenced tokens to the public or seek their admission to trading where there are objective and demonstrable grounds that:

(a) the management body of the applicant may pose a threat to its effective, sound and prudent management and business continuity and to the adequate consideration of the interest of its clients and the integrity of the market;

(b) members of the management body of the applicant do not meet the criteria set out in Article 34(2) of the MiCA Regulation;

(c) shareholders and members, whether direct or indirect, of the applicant that have qualifying holdings who do not meet the criteria of sufficiently good repute set out in Article 34(4) of the MiCA Regulation;

(d) the applicant fails to meet or is likely to fail to meet any of the requirements of Title III of the MiCA Regulation or the provisions of this Part; and, or

(e) the applicant’s business model may pose a serious threat to market integrity, financial stability, the smooth operation of payment systems, or exposes the issuer or the sector to serious risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

(2) The competent authority shall also refuse to grant authorisation under Article 21 of the MiCA Regulation and article 11 to offer asset-referenced tokens to the public or seek their admission to trading if the ECB or, where applicable, the central bank referred to in article 11(11) gives a negative opinion under Article 20(5) of the MiCA Regulation and article 12(13) on the grounds of a risk posed to the smooth operation of payment systems, monetary policy transmission, or monetary sovereignty.