France could force crypto platforms to obtain licenses

[ad_1]

Following the global trend of tightening crypto regulations following recent market failures, France may reassess its relaxed licensing regime for digital asset providers. This would challenge nations’ efforts to portray themselves as one of the most pro-crypto countries in Europe.

According to the Financial Times, Hervé Maurey, a member of the French Senate’s Finance Committee, has proposed an amendment to remove a clause allowing crypto companies to operate without a full license until 2026. The current regime preserves this possibility even after the crypto markets. Assets (MiCA) came into effect in 2024.

The Maureys Amendment will end the option to operate without stringent controls as it will require companies to obtain a license from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) from October 2023. In its own words, the collapse from FTX has changed the game in this regard:

This led many players in the French system to consider that things needed to be better regulated.

Currently, there are at least 50 registered companies operating in France without authorization from the AMF. A former member of the AMF board, Thierry Philipponnat, considers that the level of investor protection within this regime is very low or even non-existent.

Related: French Police Use Crypto Twitter Detective Search To Catch Scammers

The amendment was passed by the Senate on December 13 and will be submitted for deliberation in Parliament in January 2023. The association of local industries, Developing French Digital Assets Industry (Adan), sees the amendment as a sign of abandonment of an industry of the future by French legislators.

Emmanuel Macron’s government, which recently entered its second presidential term, is famous for its vocal support for the digital asset industry. Last April, before the second round of the presidential election, Macron expressed his faith in the need to increase the number of technological unicorns in the country, to develop an NFT policy and the European metaverse. However, he also shared his skepticism of the self-regulated financial sector.

[ad_2]