French Financial Markets Authority plans to bring crypto firms under MiCA
The financial regulatory body for France, the French Financial Markets Authority, has been going through transition options for its crypto firms to MiCA
Image: Benoit Tessier / Reuters
After the European Parliament passed the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) bill, countries like France have been reviewing options for moving their crypto firms under the ambit of MiCA.
Though the MiCA regulation hasn’t been passed by the European Council yet, the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) would like to regulate the country’s crypto firms under the Act’s rules within the next 18 months.
While French crypto firms are already registered in France, the French Financial Markets Authority would be exploring fast-track options to transition them to MiCA.
These firms, which come under the group of French providers of digital asset services (PSANs), would come under MiCA for several of its benefits over French laws. Other reasons include conflicts of certain policies under both MiCA and domestic laws.
Presently in France, crypto firms have two options for registration, the first one of which includes a simple registration with relaxed rules and options, while the stricter registration option is emphasised by the government more and also falls in line with the rules of MiCA.
It contains several strict regulations for anti-money laundering, internal disclosures, customer-asset custody, and others.
“Crypto-asset services provided in a totally decentralized manner without an intermediary (Decentralized Finance or DeFi) are excluded from the scope of the text, but the Commission will carry out an assessment of the development of decentralized finance and its regulatory framework. The AMF welcomes this adoption of the text and the progress of the European legislative process.” said the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) in a post.
It further stated that regulation would help to expand the competitiveness of French and European firms, through creating a harmonized framework in the continent, and by ensuring better safety and protection for investors.
Further, it mentioned that the European Securities and Markets Authority and European Banking Authority would have to devise plans for the implementation of certain provisions of the MiCA and also publish texts on the same.
The French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) was reportedly involved in the process actively.
The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash
