France’s financial regulatory authority is making revisions to crypto-related rules to align with the new regulatory framework set by Europe. These changes, set to take effect next year, focus on strengthening registration criteria for companies that provide specific services related to digital assets, including custody and trading.
The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the French financial regulator, announced on Thursday that it is amending its regulations and policies pertaining to digital asset service providers (DASPs) to implement an “enhanced” registration process for certain entities.
These adjustments in requirements for cryptocurrency companies were introduced through the DDADUE law, an acronym for the French version of a law that enabled the government in Paris to adopt European Union directives. This law clarified elements of the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation and introduced a mandatory “enhanced” registration system that will become effective on January 1, 2024. This system applies to market participants intending to offer specific digital asset services, including custody, fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto trading.
The AMF’s current amendments aim to integrate the requirements applicable to DASPs subject to “enhanced” registration into its General Regulation and policies. Another significant objective is to harmonize the prerequisites for DASPs in France with those necessary for obtaining European Union authorization as crypto asset service providers (CASPs) under the MiCA framework.
