Fidelio Tata, PhD⎢Embedded MiCA CASP CPD & Competence Frameworks

Embedded CPD and Com­pe­tence Frame­works for CASPs and Fi­nan­cial In­sti­tu­tions under MiCA: Role-based staff train­ing, ma­na­ge­ment CPD and audit-ready do­cu­men­ta­tion re­flec­ting ESMA ex­pec­ta­tions

My CPD and com­pe­tence pro­gram­mes sup­port CASPs and fi­nan­cial in­sti­tu­tions pro­vi­ding cryp­to-asset ser­vi­ces under MiCA in build­ing, main­tain­ing and evi­denc­ing role-based knowledge and com­pe­tence arrange­ments. Pro­gram­mes are availa­ble as initial train­ing, an­nual CPD and ma­na­ge­ment over­sight for­mats, sup­ported by structured re­gu­la­tory do­cu­menta­tion.

Sample programme structures

• 10-Hour MiCA CASP CPD Programme:
  Annual CPD pro­gram­me for staff pro­viding in­for­ma­tion on cryp­to-assets and cry­pto-asset ser­vices. View sample 10-hour CPD pro­gram­me.
• 20-Hour MiCA CASP CPD Programme:
  Annual CPD pro­gram­me for staff pro­vi­ding ad­vice on cryp­to-assets and cryp­to-asset ser­vices. View sample 20-hour CPD pro­gram­me.

The 10- and 20-hour fo­rmats re­flect ESMA examples; the appro­priate annual CPD volume should be cali­brated to the role, services and exist­ing knowledge and com­pe­tence.

• 40-Hour MiCA CASP Initial Training Pro­gram­me:
  Struc­tured initial train­ing for staff pro­viding in­for­ma­tion on cryp­to-assets and cryp­to-asset ser­vices, de­signed as part of the insti­tu­tion’s quali­fi­cation frame­work. View sample 40-hour initial training pro­gram­me.
• 3-Hour MiCA Management Programme:
  Ma­na­ge­ment CPD and over­sight brief­ing for senior ma­na­gers and ma­na­ge­ment body members over­seeing cryp­to-asset ser­vices. View sample 3-hour ma­na­ge­ment pro­gram­me.

For in­sti­tu­tions seek­ing to do­cu­ment a broader com­pe­tence and go­ver­nance ap­proach be­yond in­di­vi­dual train­ing pro­gram­mes, an Em­bed­ded MiCA CPD and Com­pe­tence Frame­work can be im­ple­ment­ed. The frame­work inte­grates role mapping, initial and con­tinuing train­ing, ma­na­ge­ment CPD, com­pe­tence assess­ments, super­vision, go­ver­nance do­cu­menta­tion and audit-ready evi­dence into a co­herent inter­nal com­pe­tence model. View sample Em­bed­ded CASP CPD and Com­pe­tence Frame­work pro­posal.

Rather than of­fer­ing stand-alone train­ing only, the pro­gram­mes are de­signed as em­bedded com­pe­tence frame­works: role-based learn­ing paths, ma­na­ge­ment CPD, CASP-spe­cific work­shops, do­cu­mented assess­ments and audit-ready evi­dence aligned with ESMA’s Know­ledge & Com­pe­tence Guide­lines and broader super­vi­sory ex­pec­ta­tions on gover­nance, sub­stance and effec­tive over­sight.

The pro­gram­mes support CASPs in documenting the qualification and ongoing competence development of relevant staff and the involvement of senior managers and control functions. Each en­ga­ge­ment can include a do­cu­mented Re­gu­la­tory Com­pliance Pack with mapped CPD hours, par­ti­ci­pation records, assess­ment re­sults, role-based com­pe­tency out­comes and re­commended next steps for in­ter­nal gover­nance and super­vi­sory re­view.

The offering is de­signed for CASPs and financial institutions providing crypto-asset services under MiCA and is par­ti­cu­larly re­le­vant for client-fa­cing staff, com­pliance, risk, legal, AML, IT, audit and out­sourcing ma­na­ge­ment functions, as well as senior ma­na­gers and ma­na­ge­ment body members re­sponsib­le for effec­tive over­sight of CASP acti­vi­ties. A de­di­cated ma­na­ge­ment CPD module can be used to evi­dence board-level and senior ex­ecu­tive under­standing of crypto-asset ser­vices, operational risks, out­sourcing, governance and super­visory ex­pec­ta­tions.

WHY AN EMBEDDED CPD MODEL MATTERS

Training can be outsourced.
Competence and effective oversight remain internal responsibilities.

ESMA’s ap­proach to CASP autho­ri­sa­tion and on­going super­vision in­creasing­ly em­pha­sises sub­stance, go­ver­nance, ef­fec­tive over­sight and suf­ficient in­ter­nal skills and ex­perience. Ex­ternal training can sup­port these ob­jec­tives, but in­ter­nal com­pe­ten­ce ca­pa­bi­lities and ef­fec­tive over­sight re­main es­sen­tial re­sponsi­bi­li­ties of the CASP. The em­bed­ded CPD model there­fore com­bines ex­ternal ex­per­tise with in­ter­nal par­ti­ci­pa­tion by ma­na­ge­ment, com­pliance, risk, IT, AML and other key func­tions.

Further reading: My article “Nach der Zulassung ist vor der Aufsicht: Warum Managementkompetenz unter MiCAR in den Fokus rückt”, published by Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, discusses the implications of MiCA knowledge and competence requirements for management and effective oversight. Link.

BACK­GROUND: ESMA KNOW­LEDGE & COM­PE­TENCE GUIDE­LINES

On 11 July 2025, the Euro­pean Se­cu­ri­ties and Markets Au­tho­rity (ESMA) pub­lished Guide­lines for the cri­te­ria on the assess­ment of knowledge and com­pe­tence under the Markets in Cryp­to‑Assets Re­gu­la­tion (MiCA). These Guide­lines set out mi­ni­mum ex­pec­ta­tions for quali­fi­ca­tions, pro­fessional ex­pe­rience and con­tinuous pro­fessional de­velop­ment (CPD) for staff pro­vi­ding in­for­ma­tion or ad­vice on cryp­to‑assets and cryp­to‑asset ser­vi­ces to clients. The official trans­la­tions into all EU languages were pub­lished on ESMA’s web­site on 28 January 2026, start­ing a two‑month period during which com­pe­tent autho­ri­ties had to notify ESMA whether they comply or in­tend to comply with the Guide­lines. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) listed the ESMA guidelines as applicable from 28 July 2026 and therefore takes them into account in its supervisory practice.

MINIMUM PRO­FESSIO­NAL QUALI­FI­CATION FOR CASP STAFF

ESMA sets out se­ve­ral pos­sib­le quali­fi­cation path­ways. For staff pro­vi­ding in­for­ma­tion on cryp­to-as­sets or cryp­to-as­set ser­vi­ces, one ex­ample is a pro­fes­sional quali­fi­cation of at least 80 hours com­bined with at least six months of re­le­vant super­vised ex­perience. Al­ter­na­tively, at least one year of re­le­vant super­vi­sed ex­perience may be suffi­cient. For staff pro­vi­ding ad­vice, ESMA identi­fies, among other path­ways, a pro­fessio­nal quali­fi­ca­tion of at least 160 hours com­bined with at least one year of re­le­vant super­vised ex­perience. Other quali­fi­cation and ex­perience path­ways are also availa­ble. The re­le­vant know­led­ge and com­pe­tence must be de­monstra­ted by passing an assess­ment.

CPD RE­QUIRE­MENTS TO MAIN­TAIN KNOW­LED­GE AND COM­PE­TENCE

ESMA ex­pects that CASPs deter­mine the ad­equate mi­ni­mum number of CPD hours per year that staff pro­viding in­for­ma­tion or ad­vice on cryp­to‑assets or cryp­to‑asset ser­vices should complete, taking into account the na­ture and com­plexi­ty of the assets and ser­vices con­cerned as well as staff’s existing knowledge and ex­perience. For staff providing information or advice on a limited range of the least complex crypto-assets or crypto-asset services, ESMA gives examples of 10 and 20 CPD hours per year, respectively, with CPD in­cluding veri­fi­ca­tion of the par­ti­ci­pants’ knowledge and compe­tence rather than mere attendance.

WHY CPD MUST BE TAILORED TO EACH CASP

ESMA con­firms that staff pro­viding in­for­ma­tion must de­monstrate the necessary knowledge and com­pe­tence only for the cryp­to‑assets and cryp­to‑asset services actually offered by the CASP, not for all cryp­to‑assets that are techni­cally within the scope of the ser­vice. CPD must there­fore be adapted to each CASP’s spe­ci­fic business model. When de­signing CPD, CASPs should take into account existing staff knowledge and compe­tence, re­gu­la­tory changes, key market de­velop­ments and newly emerging techno­lo­gies.

WHY CASPs SHOULD NOW OPERATIONALISE THEIR CPD FRAMEWORKS

The Guidelines have applied since 28 July 2026. CASPs should therefore identify staff and roles in scope, determine appropriate annual CPD arrangements and integrate training, knowledge assessments and evidence into an ongoing competence framework. Implementation should be calibrated to the CASP’s business model, crypto-asset services and existing staff knowledge and competence.

HOW CASPs SHOULD REVIEW STAFF CRYPTO-ASSET COM­PE­TENCE

ESMA re­quires CASPs to carry out at least annual in­ter­nal or ex­ter­nal re­views of their staff members’ de­velop­ment and ex­perience needs, to assess re­gu­la­tory develop­ments and to take the necessary action to comply with applicable re­quire­ments. These re­views should en­sure that staff hold appro­priate quali­fi­ca­tions and main­tain and up­date their knowledge and com­pe­tence through con­tinuous pro­fessional de­velop­ment or training, in line with the mi­ni­mum guidance set out in the Guide­lines, and should in­clude specific training before any new type of cryp­to‑asset or cryp­to‑asset service is offered.

MY OFFER: EMBEDDED MiCA CASP CPD AND COM­PE­TENCE FRAME­WORKS

Based on my more than 30 years of pro­fessional ex­perience in fi­nancial markets, aca­demia and advisory projects, as well as tailored training pro­grammes al­ready de­livered for CASPs, I sup­port cryp­to-asset ser­vice pro­viders in the im­ple­menta­tion and do­cu­menta­tion of MiCA-aligned CPD and com­pe­tence frame­works, in­cluding:

• Con­ducting skills gap assess­ments to identi­fy training needs aligned with staff roles and MiCA com­pe­tence re­quire­ments
• De­signing custom­ized training pro­grammes ca­li­bra­ted to CASP business models and the na­ture of crypto assets and services
• De­li­vering role‑based training mo­dules that build re­gu­la­tory know­ledge, prac­ti­cal skills, and super­visory aware­ness
• Fa­ci­li­ta­ting inter­active learning ex­periences through work­shops, case studies, and compe­te­ncy assess­ments
• Pro­vi­ding docu­mented evi­dence of CPD en­ga­ge­ment, in­cluding cer­ti­fi­cates, assess­ments, and par­ti­ci­pa­tion re­cords
• Main­taining a re­gu­la­tory audit trail and CPD do­cu­menta­tion via a com­pre­hen­sive Re­gu­la­tory Com­pliance Pack that supports super­vi­sory review and in­ter­nal com­pliance re­port­ing, in­clu­ding:
• Mapped CPD hours linked to ESMA MiCA know­ledge & com­pe­tence ex­pec­ta­tions
• Audit-ready evi­dence in PDF/Excel
• Role-based com­pe­tency out­comes
• Super­visory sub­mis­sion support ma­terials
• Pre­pa­ring post‑training com­pe­ten­cy re­ports sum­ma­riz­ing out­comes, com­pliance map­ping, and re­com­mended next steps
• Bi‑weekly CASP Know­led­ge & Com­pe­tence Mo­ni­tor (by in­vi­ta­tion only, typi­cal­ly bund­led with CASP CPD train­ing and ad­vi­sory man­da­tes)

Continuing Pro­fessio­nal De­velop­ment (CPD) is essen­tial for Crypto-Asset Ser­vice Pro­viders (CASPs) under MiCA, en­suring staff main­tain up-to-date know­ledge of cryp­to-as­sets, ser­vices, and re­gu­la­tory re­quire­ments. My em­bed­ded CASP com­pe­tence pro­gram­mes help firms esta­blish, main­tain and evi­dence in­ternal know­ledge and com­pe­tence ca­pa­bi­li­ties under MiCA, com­bining role-based learning, ma­na­ge­ment in­volve­ment and audit-ready do­cu­menta­tion.

The training is de­signed to re­flect both ESMA and re­le­vant national com­pe­tent autho­rity ex­pecta­tions on staff com­pe­tence and on­going edu­ca­tion. The training is designed to reflect ESMA and relevant national competent authority expectations on staff competence and ongoing education. It supports role-based initial training and annual CPD, accompanied by audit-ready documentation and documented learning outcomes.

Client reference: V-Bank AG