Financial Market Authority holds panels and keynote sessions with high calibre speakers as part of Fintech Week Austria
Innovation is a global driver of financial markets – but the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) sees a need for clear rules and responsibility to ensure sustainable progress. FMA Executive Director Mariana Kühnel emphasised this in opening the FMA Fintech Day today, taking place in the Reitersaal at the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB) in Vienna.
- “For the FMA, innovation poses both opportunities and threats. Innovation is a given that needs space. As a partner in the process on equal terms, we promote innovation while also acting in a decisive manner where standards are not adhered to. Such clarity and certainty is in all market participants’ interests. The supervisor and industry must collectively ensure that innovation advances in both a responsible and sustainable manner that does not hamper progress.”
The FMA has therefore adopted a pioneering stance within Europe in implementing the European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). The FMA published comprehensive guidance that clearly state the expectations for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) that are active in Austria: “Boots on the ground” – a presence with real structures and persons and no front companies; sound governance; and transparency and integrity regarding consumer protection, and in the prevention of money laundering and market manipulation. The FMA therefore also boosts market confidence among companies and consumers alike.
The FMA also expects such standards to be applied in the European single market, but has identified that lost ground still exists in implementing MiCAR, remarked Kühnel. The FMA issued a joint position paper together with the French and Italian authorities on this issue several weeks ago.
- “MiCAR is an important step towards fully harmonised rules for crypto-asset service providers in Europe. Greater harmony in its implementation is required for endeavours for a level playing field to succeed”, according to Kühnel.
The FMA Fintech Day programme highlights the current challenges and opportunities regarding MiCAR, crypto-assets, artificial intelligence, decentralised finance (DeFi) and tokenisation. Experts drawn from supervision, market practitioners, and academia discussed how regulation and innovation can enable Europe to be a safe and competitive financial venue.
Further speakers and panelists at FMA Fintech Day 2025:
- Marianne Jarlaud, Autorité des Marchés Financiers
- Philipp Bohrn, Bitpanda
- Georg Harer, Bybit EU
- Christian Wolf, Raiffeisen Bank International
- Martin Hanzl, EY Law Austria
- Elisabeth Reiner, EY Law Austria
- Özge Almasulu-Esatbeyoğlu, Bundesministerium für Finanzen
- Clara Guerra, Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein
- Stefan Härtner, FINMA (Switzerland)
- Martin Miernicki, Universität Graz
- Birgit Puck, FMA
- Stefan Tomanek, FMA
- Ralph Rirsch, FMA
- Florian Pekler, FMA
Further information and links:
- FMA, AMF and Consob Joint Position Paper on MiCAR
- FMA information about MiCAR
- Programmes for FMA Fintech Day and Fintech Week Vienna
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Boris Gröndahl (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43 1 24959-6010
+43 676 8824 9995