Cross-Border Provision of Crypto-asset Services

The legislation in force in the Slovak Republic, as part of the European Union, allows financial market entities to conduct business throughout the European Economic Area on the basis of a simplified process, within which it is not necessary to apply for a separate permit in each member state. Doing business in an EU/EEA member state is covered by the so-called European passport, while the relevant process is called “passporting”. This is a situation where market entities have the right to exercise the possibility of freely conducting business on the basis of the freedom to provide services, or the right to establish themselves, through a branch.

Cross-border business is applied in several sectors of the financial market, and its rules are based on the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. In the cross-border provision of financial services, the principle of home country control (HCC) is generally applied, according to which the business of a supervised financial market entity in another Member State is supervised by the supervisory authority of the home Member State.

The MiCA Regulation introduces a special regulation for the cross-border provision of crypto-asset services, as well as the obligation to notify the so-called “White Papers”. You can find more about the notification obligation of the White Papers on crypto-assets in the section Issuing crypto-assets.

Freedom to Provide Services

The right to provide services for legal entities established in one of the EU/EEA Member States is derived from Articles 56 to 62 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In this case, the entity is established in its home Member State and provides its services freely on a cross-border basis. The notification of the freedom to provide services is made between the entity and the supervisory authority of the home Member State and subsequently between that supervisory authority of the home Member State and the supervisory authority of the Member State in which the entity intends to provide its services.

Freedom of Establishment

The right of establishment for legal persons in any of the EU/EEA Member States arises from Articles 49 to 50 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This applies when the provision of services in a Member State other than the home Member State is carried out, for example, through a branch (with a registered office in a Member State other than the home Member State). Notification of the right of establishment and therefore of the establishment of a branch is made to the supervisory authority of the home Member State and subsequently between this supervisory authority of the home Member State and the supervisory authority of the Member State in which the entity intends to provide its services.

General Good Rules

The freedom to provide services and the right of establishment are not absolute rights and may be restricted where necessary to protect the public interest, for example to ensure investor protection, market integrity or financial stability. It is therefore important to take into account the limitations under the relevant national law when exercising the freedom to provide services or the right of establishment in the context of the MiCA Regulation.

Notification Procedures for Authorized Entities

1.Domestic entities with their registered office in the Slovak Republic. Before the actual notification, we recommend organizing a pre-notification meeting to clarify the intention and procedures.

2. Foreign entities with their registered office outside the Slovak Republic that want to provide their services in the Slovak Republic: in this case, it is necessary to contact the supervisory authority of the home Member State, which will then take the necessary actions towards the National Bank of Slovakia.

The contact email address of the National Bank of Slovakia for domestic market entities in the field of crypto-assets and notification of White Papers on crypto-assets, as well as for contacting for the purpose of information meetings, is: crypto@nbs.sk

The initiation meeting in the cross-border notification process also includes filling out the XLS form.

The National Bank of Slovakia will perform the necessary actions pursuant to Article 65 of the MiCA Regulation and inform the market entity about the status of the notification process. Finally, the entity is entered into the temporary register of crypto-asset market entities maintained by ESMA, as well as into the NBS register.

Register of Financial Entities

The list of crypto-asset service providers authorised to provide crypto-asset services in the EU/EEA is listed in the ESMA temporary register of crypto-asset entities.

The list of crypto-asset service providers authorised to provide crypto-asset services in the Slovak Republic is available in the NBS register of entities.

Last updated on 12 Dec 2025