The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), a French financial markets regulator, is advocating for regulation of cryptocurrency operations. According to agency chief Marie-Anne Barbat Layani, the AMF is particularly advocating for mandatory and expedited registration of cryptocurrency firms that are not authorized to offer services nationwide.
Layani’s request follows a French Senate recommendation that participants in digital assets must apply for new registration in advance of the European Union’s planned Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA). It’s important to note that French legislators have proposed new legislation requiring crypto businesses to obtain new operating mandates by October 1, 2023, when the MiCa regulations are anticipated to go into effect.
Several well-known cryptocurrency-related businesses are currently situated in France, including the trading platform Binance. The administration of particular businesses and compliance with anti-money laundering regulations are both checked as part of the registration of crypto operators.
The AMF and the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) updated a blacklist of websites linked to unlawful forex and cryptocurrency investments on December 21. In contrast to 2021, when the authorities blacklisted 24 websites, only two websites were blocked in 2022.
The French government is well known for its friendly stance toward the digital asset sector and has approved numerous important global bitcoin businesses. In addition, the AMF has granted significant international crypto exchanges permission to provide crypto-related services in France. However, the country wants to re-evaluate its lenient attitude towards crypto firms amid the on-going trend of authorities going hard on crypto.
