FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Hubert de Vauplane and Hugo Bordet, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
Handbook for FSB Peer Reviews. The main pur - pose of this peer review is to examine France’s progress in the regulation and supervision of crypto-asset activities, including stablecoins. According to the FSB, “The French authorities have made significant progress in monitoring, regulating and supervising crypto-asset markets in recent years. They have established a regular monitoring mechanism for crypto-asset mar- ket developments and risk trends as part of the financial stability monitoring framework of the Banque de France, with the information subse- quently shared with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the Autorité de contrôle pru - dentiel et de résolution (ACPR), and the Ministry of Finance. The authorities successfully brought a large part of the crypto-asset market into the regulatory framework by implementing the 2019 Action Plan for Business Growth and Transfor- mation (PACTE Act) to complement existing sec- toral regulations.” Last Package of MiCAR Adaptation in French Law The French Parliament is reviewing a draft law for the latest adaptation of French law to the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) and EU law for financial markets. The PACTE Act In 2019, France adopted the PACTE Act (which stands for “Action Plan for the Growth and Transformation of Companies” ) with the ambition to become a leading jurisdiction for blockchain technology and crypto-assets. This Act notably introduced a comprehensive regulatory frame - work for initial coin offerings (ICOs) and digital asset service providers (DASPs). Almost six years after the PACTE Act came into force, it has shown its success, with more than 100 DASPs registered with the French financial
regulator ( Autorité des marchés financiers , AMF), as well as its shortcomings, with only four ICOs obtaining an approval ( “visa” ) from the AMF, the last one being in January 2023. In 2024, only four companies were licensed by the AMF as DASPs. Since the entry into force of MiCAR on 30 December 2024, applications for approval or registration as a DASP can no longer be submitted to the AMF. From now on, all DASPs registered or approved by the AMF must apply for a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) licence under MiCAR. An 18-month tran - sition period, ending in July 2026, allows them to prepare for their transition, but without the European passport. Increased Regulation of Fintech Markets at the EU Level MiCAR is one of the components of the Digi - tal Finance Package adopted on 24 September 2020 by the European Commission. MiCAR was officially adopted by the European Parliament on 20 April 2023 and entered into force on 29 June 2023. The provisions relating to asset- referenced tokens and e-money tokens (EMTs) became applicable on 30 June 2024, while the rest of the regulation has been fully applicable since 30 December 2024. This regulation, which is directly applicable with - in the European Union, notably creates a Euro - pean framework for the authorisation of crypto- asset service providers (CASPs) and establishes a framework for the issuance and supervision of EMTs (better known as “stablecoins” ). The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA) have now finalised numerous technical stand - ards under MiCAR, ensuring a harmonised regu - latory approach across the EU. Delegated regu -
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