Cap. 647 Art. 33Assessment of proposed acquisitions of crypto-asset service providers.      Cap. 371.  Cap. 345.   Cap. 376.    Cap. 370.

(1) For the purposes of this article:

(a) "proposed acquirer" means any natural or legal persons or such persons acting in concert who intend to acquire, directly or indirectly, a qualifying holding in a crypto-asset service provider; and

(b) "crypto-asset service provider" means a legal person or other undertaking authorised under Article 63 of the

MiCA Regulation and article 28, a credit institution licensed under the Banking Act, a central securities depository authorised under the Financial Markets Act, a financial institution authorised to issue electronic money under the

Financial Institutions Act, or a person licensed as an investment services licence holder under the Investment Services Act.

(2) Any natural or legal persons or such persons acting in concert who intend to acquire, directly or indirectly, a qualifying holding in a crypto-asset service provider or to increase, directly or indirectly, such a qualifying holding so that the proportion of the voting rights or of the capital held would reach or exceed twenty per cent (20%), thirty per cent (30%) or fifty per cent (50%), or so that the crypto-asset provider would become its subsidiary, shall notify the competent authority thereof in writing, indicating the size of the intended holding and the information required by the regulatory technical standards adopted by the European Commission in accordance with Article 42(4) of the MiCA Regulation.

(3) Any natural or legal person who has taken a decision to dispose, directly or indirectly, of a qualifying holding in a crypto-asset service provider shall, prior to disposing of such holding, notify in writing the competent authority of its decision and indicate the size of such holding:

Provided that any such person as referred to in this sub-article shall also notify the competent authority where it has taken a decision to reduce a qualifying holding so that the proportion of the voting rights or of the capital held would fall below ten per cent (10%), twenty per cent (20%), thirty per cent (30%), or fifty per cent (50%), or so that the crypto-asset service provider would cease to be that person’s subsidiary.

(4) The competent authority shall, promptly and in any event within two (2) working days following receipt of a notification in accordance with sub-article (2), acknowledge receipt thereof in writing:

Provided that when acknowledging receipt of the notification provided in accordance with this sub-article, the competent authority shall inform the proposed acquirer of the date of expiry of the assessment period determined in accordance with the provisions of sub-article (5).

(5) The competent authority shall assess the proposed acquisition referred to in sub-article (2) and the information required pursuant to the regulatory technical standards adopted by the European Commission in accordance with Article 84(4) of the MiCA Regulation, within sixty (60) working days of the date of the written acknowledgement of receipt referred to in sub-article (4).

(6) When performing the assessment referred to in sub-article (5), the competent authority may request from the proposed acquirer any additional information that is necessary to complete that assessment:

Provided that such requests shall be made in writing and shall specify the additional information needed:

Provided further that such requests shall be made before the assessment is finalised, and in any case no later than fifty (50) working days from the date of the written acknowledgement of receipt referred to in sub-article (4).

(7) The competent authority shall suspend the assessment period referred to in sub-article (5) until it has received the additional information referred to in sub-article (6):

Provided that the suspension referred to in this sub-article shall not exceed twenty (20) working days:

Provided further that the competent authority may extend the suspension referred to in this sub-article by up to thirty (30) working days if the proposed acquirer is situated outside the European Union or regulated under the law of a third country.

(8) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-article (7), any further requests by the competent authority for additional information or for clarification of the information received shall not result in a suspension of the assessment period set out in sub-article (5).

(9) Where the competent authority, upon completion of the assessment referred to in sub-article (5), decides to oppose the proposed acquisition referred to in sub-article (2), it shall notify the proposed acquirer of its decisions, and provide the reasons for its decision, within two (2) working days, and in any event before the date referred to in sub-article (5) as extended, where applicable, in accordance with the provisions of this article.

(10) Where the competent authority does not oppose the proposed acquisition referred to in sub-article (2) before the date referred to in sub-article (5) as extended, where applicable, in accordance with the provisions of this article, the proposed acquisition shall be deemed to be approved.

(11) The competent authority may set a maximum period for the conclusion of the proposed acquisition referred to in sub-article (2) and extend such maximum period where appropriate.