Originally, the Senate proposed a deadline of October 2023 for these new requirements, as it was hoping to stop crypto companies from abusing new the European Union rule known as the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation.
Lawmakers at the National Assembly have decided to push this date back to 1 January 2024 in order to give new entrants some time to obtain their authorisation. Moreover, by moving up the date, the Financial Markets Authority will also have more time to process applications.
Without this amendment, operators could register just to benefit from the grandfather clause, which under MiCA, wouldn’t require them to obtain a full license until around March 2026. The proposal has been adopted by the committee, but it must still be approved by the Assembly and negotiated with the Senate.
According to coindesk.com, there have been mixed reactions to the proposals from the crypto industry, mainly sparked by a concern that the amendment could diminish France’s chances of becoming a crypto hub.
Initial Senate proposals for tightening crypto regulation in France followed the collapse of FTX. Current French laws permit companies to simply register instead of seeking authorisation, which requires a more complete set of checks on financial resources and business conduct. At the time of writing, companies such as Binance and Societe Generale have registered but are not yet authorised.
In January 2023, the governor of the Bank of France proposed stricter regulatory requirements for cryptocurrency businesses in the context of the sector’s volatility. Governor François Villeroy de Galhau proposed that the current registration for cryptocurrency businesses should be replaced by a licence.
The executive also highlighted that it is in France’s best interest to act before upcoming EU regulations come into effect and make French government licencing mandatory for digital asset service providers (DASPs). The governor’s proposal also comes in the context of a new EU legislation for crypto-asset markets (MiCA), which achieved consensus on a set of new anti-money laundering rules for the sector.
In October 2022, the European Union has agreed on the legal text for licensed crypto firms by passing the landmark Markets in Crypto Asset regulation. In June 2022, the European Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on MiCA, marking the first comprehensive EU stance on cryptocurrencies. The move came a day after the European Council, European Parliament, and The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) finalised measures aimed at decreasing money laundering in crypto.
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