VIRTUAL ASSETS MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENT SERVICES UNDER VARA
Operate discretionary and managed VA mandates with institutional-grade controls, monthly client reporting, and robust public disclosures—fully aligned to VARA’s Regulations.
Advising VASPs on suitability frameworks, staff competency matrices, conflict management, introducer disclosures, and advice-file QA programs.
WHAT THIS LICENCE COVERS
Under VARA’s VA Management and Investment Services Rulebook, licensed VASPs may manage clients’ Virtual Assets and provide investment management services—subject to cumulative compliance with all cross-cutting Rulebooks (Company, Compliance & Risk Management, Technology & Information, Market Conduct). The Management & Investment Services Rulebook applies in addition to those frameworks.
SERVICES YOU CAN OFFER UNDER THIS LICENCE
When properly licensed by VARA for VA Management & Investment Services, your firm can deliver:
Discretionary VA Portfolio Management
Execute a defined mandate (strategy, assets in scope, risk/limits), acting at all times in the client’s best interests (price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution/settlement, custody conditions).
Non-Discretionary/Advisory-Led Mandates
Provide personal recommendations within the management relationship, after assessing knowledge/experience, objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, financial circumstances; document appropriateness and keep records.
Receipt & Transmission of Client Orders
Related to managed VA positions, with prompt transmission and no remuneration for routing unless disclosed in the Client Agreement and accepted per law.
Independent Valuation & Monthly Client Statements
Maintain independent valuation and send monthly statements covering holdings, period transactions, and valuation changes.
Liquidity & Market-Risk Management
Monitor/test liquidity and market risk regularly; put corrective measures in place; subject risk and due-diligence processes to independent third-party audit.
Transparent Fees & Charges
Charge only as permitted under the Client Agreement; give 90 days’ prior notice before introducing a new fee category or increasing rates payable out of managed VAs.
Important guardrail: You must not represent that management services involve distributing protocol “staking rewards” unless client payments directly originate from protocol-level rewards.
COMPLIANCE GUARDRAILS THAT KEEP YOU OUT OF TROUBLE
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Policies & Procedures (Part I.A). |
Maintain written policies that cover, at minimum:
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Public Disclosures (Part I.B) |
Prominently publish on your website:
Where legally permissible: past convictions/prosecutions of Senior Management/Board; and any other information VARA reasonably requires. (These are in addition to Market Conduct and Compliance & Risk notification duties.) |
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Client Suitability (Part II.A) |
Client Suitability (Part II.A) |
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Staff Competency (Part II.B) |
Ensure staff are knowledgeable, competent, trained, considering qualifications, VA sector experience, understanding of VARA’s framework, and industry standards. |
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Truth in Information (Part II.C). |
Verify facts before making statements/promises/forecasts; do not provide information that is, or should reasonably be known to be, misleading/false/deceptive; keep information current. |
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Impermissible Activities (Part II.D). |
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Reporting & Valuation (Part II.E). |
Monthly statements; independent valuation of all assets under management; documented valuation policy to ensure timely, accurate valuations. |
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Fees & Charges (Part II.F). |
Charge from client VAs only as permitted by Client Agreement; 90-day notice before new fee categories or increases. |
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Management Practices (Part II.H) & RTO (Part II.I). |
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Risk & Diligence (Part II.J). |
Monitor/test liquidity and market risks regularly; remediate promptly; have the framework independently audited and provide to VARA on request. |
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Client Agreements (Part II.K). |
Agreements must clearly set out, among other items: In-scope VAs; rights of VASP/client/other entities (incl. staking); payment of proceeds (and variability/rules); whether client VAs are held on behalf of the client; explicit client consent for any use of VAs; withdrawal rights; clear risk statements (likelihood/severity); rights to vary/terminate and consequences; valuation fluctuation terms; events of default; complaints process; and whether you receive routing benefits. |
What CRYPTOVERSE Legal delivers
Licence-ready pack
Policies, procedures, and website disclosure suite that map one-to-one to Part I.A/B requirements
Mandate design & suitability toolkit
Client-fact-find, risk-profiling, appropriateness reasoning notes, and 8-year retention model (Part II.A).
Client Agreement templates
Aligned to Part II.K, including optional staking use-cases with explicit, informed consent language.
Valuation & reporting playbook
Independent valuation SOPs and monthly statement artefacts (Part II.E).
Risk & diligence framework
Liquidity/market-risk MI, independent audit scoping, and board reporting (Part II.J).
Marketing clearances
Staking-claims controls and fair-presentation sign-off (Part II.G/C).
OUR PROCESS
(FAST & REGULATOR-READY)
Scope & perimeter
Define in-scope VAs, mandate types, custody model.
Policy stack build
Part I.A policies; cross-references to Company/Compliance/Tech/Conduct Rulebooks.
Disclosures & website
Implement Part I.B public disclosures; conflicts, custody/use, execution & liquidity statements.
Client Agreement & consent
Embed Part II.K terms; staking/use of VAs only with clear consent.
Valuation & reporting
Independent valuation; monthly client statements; audit trail.
Readiness review
Evidence pack, independent audit scoping (risk & diligence), and go-live briefing for senior management.
Why CRYPTOVERSE Legal
VARA-first specialists
We build to the letter of the Rulebook, then operationalise it.
Evidence-driven
Disclosure pages, monthly reports, and audit trails that satisfy Part I & II expectations.
Speed with substance
Regulator-ready artefacts without sacrificing client-protection outcomes.
Ready to launch a compliant VA management proposition?
Book a Strategy CallRequest the VARA Management & Investment Services ChecklistFAQs
Any recommendation made to a specific client that they should take a course of action in relation to VAs within the management service—triggering the suitability factors and record-keeping (≥8 years).
Only with explicit prior client consent. Otherwise, client VAs used during service provision are held on behalf of the client, unless the Agreement states otherwise.
Monthly, including total value, all period transactions, and valuation changes; maintain independent valuation and a documented valuation policy.
Only if the Client Agreement discloses this and valid acceptance is obtained; otherwise, no remuneration for routing.
Conflicts/management, privacy/whistleblowing/complaints, access/withdrawal during stress, client-asset protection & uses, counterparty-risk mitigation, how client VAs are used (and risks), order-execution, and liquidity-risk statements—plus any additional items VARA requires.