When a supervisor asks about governance: what to do first
When a supervisor sends a written question about governance, the first step is to acknowledge receipt and record the deadline stated in the letter. The company assigns one internal owner, maps the question against existing governance documentation, and confirms the scope before a single reviewer drafts the response.
Basis
For a crypto-asset service provider, a governance question from a supervisor usually traces back to the authorisation file opened under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA). The regulation treats governance arrangements as a condition for holding and keeping an authorisation, not as a check made once at entry.
A supervisor raising governance after authorisation is exercising ongoing supervision under that same regime. The company should read the request against the file it already submitted, rather than against a new set of expectations.
What changes
A written governance question starts a clock that runs on its own, separate from any other file the company has open. Missing the stated deadline is treated as a finding in its own right, apart from the substance of the answer.
Digital asset businesses often run several files at the same time. A dispute over who actually holds the rights to a token can surface while a governance question is still open, and the two should not be folded into one reply — The buyer of a token is not the rights.
What to do
Work through the request in a fixed order. Do not start drafting the answer before the first three steps are complete.
| Step | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Acknowledge the request in writing | Compliance officer |
| Log the deadline stated in the letter | Compliance officer |
| Retrieve the governance documentation the request refers to | Legal counsel |
| Assign one internal owner for the reply | Management board |
| Draft the response, addressing every point raised | Compliance officer, with legal review |
| Route the draft for sign-off before sending | Management board |
If part of the documentation is held by an outside provider rather than in-house, retrieve it without waiting for a reminder from the supervisor — An agency keeps the design files ownership of results.
Who decides
The competent supervisor decides whether the response is adequate. That decision rests on the written submission and, where the supervisor asks for it, a follow-up meeting. The outcome is recorded in the supervisor's file, not in the company's.
The deadline for the reply is the one stated in the supervisor's own letter. No single deadline applies across every governance request; each letter sets its own.
Depending on your situation
If a security incident has already been reported to a different authority, keep that notification and this governance reply as two separate files, even where the same board signs both — A breach is discovered by a customer data protection.
If an intellectual-property deadline is running at the same time, calendar it separately from the supervisor's deadline. The two clocks do not share an extension — When an opposition deadline is running.
If the governance question follows a change of supervisor partway through the authorisation process, the correspondence trail becomes the main evidence of what was actually agreed between the company and the previous supervisor.
What this page does not cover
This page does not cover how to draft the governance policy itself, or what a specific supervisor treats as acceptable in a specific case. It covers only the sequence of the first response.
It does not cover token-ownership disputes, breach notifications, or intellectual-property deadlines as such. Each of those runs on its own procedure, even when it arrives at the same time as a governance question.
Verified
Checked against Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), in force from 30 December 2024. Where a national supervisor's own procedure applies on top of this regime, that procedure is confirmed directly with the supervisor's published guidance, not assumed from the regulation.
Related situations
A governance question does not always arrive on a predictable schedule. See what changes When the regulator changes during the project.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first step when a supervisor asks about governance?
Acknowledge the request in writing and log the deadline it states. Assign one internal owner before anyone starts drafting a substantive answer.
Which deadline is already running?
The deadline stated in the supervisor's own letter. It runs independently of any other file the company has open, including files with different deadlines of their own.
Who decides, and on what evidence?
The competent supervisor decides, based on the written submission and, where requested, a follow-up meeting. The decision is recorded in the supervisor's file.