Tag: EY Law

Vienna’s MiCA Playbook: How a “Rent-a-CEO” Model Turns Austria into the Gateway for High-Risk Crypto Exchanges

Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) has turned Vienna into a MiCA hub – and a single Viennese lawyer, Oliver Stauber, keeps appearing at the front door. First KuCoin, now Bitget: both global exchanges with serious regulatory baggage, both pushing their EU entry via Austria, both with Stauber as CEO or managing director at the licensing stage. From a compliance perspective, this “rent-a-CEO” model looks increasingly problematic.