FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Estelle Rigal-Alexandre, Marie Frisch and Mohamed Bouzenada, Soulier Bunch
existence of a French client base. Where such target- ing is established, the provider is expected to hold an appropriate authorisation or to operate under the MiCA passporting regime. Reverse Solicitation French law does not provide for a comprehensive exemption based on reverse solicitation in the context of crypto-asset services. While services provided at the exclusive initiative of the client may, in principle, fall outside the scope of active marketing, this con- cept is interpreted restrictively by regulators. In particular, any prior solicitation, advertising, or pro- motional activity targeting French clients is likely to preclude reliance on reverse solicitation. As a result, this exemption can only be used in limited circum- stances and does not constitute a reliable structur- ing tool for accessing the French market on a cross- border basis. Advertising and Disclosure Requirements Marketing communications relating to crypto-assets must comply with strict standards designed to ensure that they are fair, clear and not misleading. Under MiCA, communications must be consistent with the information contained in the relevant white paper and must clearly disclose their promotional nature. Risk warnings must be presented in a prominent and comprehensible manner. In France, additional national rules apply. In particular, only authorised or registered crypto-asset service pro- viders may promote their services to the public. Any communication likely to create confusion as to the regulatory status of the provider is prohibited. Influencer Marketing France has introduced specific legislation governing commercial influence activities, which significantly impacts the promotion of crypto-assets. Under this regime, influencers are prohibited from promoting crypto-asset services unless the underlying provider is duly authorised. This effectively prevents the pro- motion of services offered by non-compliant or unreg- istered entities.
In addition, promotional content must clearly dis- close its commercial nature and comply with general advertising standards. Non-compliance may result in administrative or criminal sanctions. Regulatory Approach French regulators adopt a proactive approach to the supervision of marketing practices in the crypto-asset sector. The AMF regularly issues warnings and main- tains a public blacklist of unauthorised providers tar- geting French clients. In practice, marketing restrictions constitute a key enforcement tool and are used to limit access to the French market by non-compliant actors, including those operating from abroad. 4.2 White Labelling Under MiCA, white labelling is not expressly regulated but is subject to strict limitations: a non-authorised firm cannot rely on a white-label structure to provide crypto-asset services in its own name, and the author- ised CASP cannot transfer or “lend” its licence. DeFi is not subject to a specific regulatory frame- work as such in France. Its legal treatment therefore depends on the nature of the activities carried out and the degree of decentralisation involved. Where DeFi arrangements operate without any iden- tifiable intermediary, they generally fall outside the scope of existing regulatory regimes, including MiCA. However, in practice, many DeFi projects involve some form of centralisation (eg, governance struc- tures, development teams or interfaces), which may trigger the application of regulatory requirements on a case-by-case basis. 5. Decentralised Finance 5.1 Ability to Use DeFi CeFi firms established in France may, in principle, utilise DeFi protocols in connection with their activi- ties. However, they remain fully subject to applicable regulatory requirements, including those arising under MiCA, and must ensure that their use of DeFi does not
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