The era of cryptocurrency seems to be entering a new phase. Recently, Germany passed a law that allows banks to store cryptocurrencies. Now, France has taken a positive step in the same direction.
France Calls for ICO Regulations
A number of ICO projects have scammed users in the name of cryptocurrencies. A large cause of the scams were the unclear and unregulatory legal frameworks. The French authority has specifically developed regulatory laws meant for crypto based ICO’s. Under this law, crypto firms will have to comply the tax regimes, consumer protection and meet minimum capital requirements.
The opinion of the writer is their own and do not constitute financial advice in any way whatsoever. Edited by Sean Vanian, contributor for The Coin Radar.
On December 19, 2019, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), announced that it has granted its approval for an ICO application. AMF, the French financial markets regulator, for the first time, approved a platform named French-ICO. The platform is developed for fundraising in cryptoassets.
The Regulatory Body Gives Green Signal to ICO
In July, Reuters reported that the France is in the process of establishing regulatory framework for cryptocurrency-related companies. The Financial Markets Authority personnel pointed out that they were already in talks with some of the candidates for ICO.
Six months later, the regulatory body has given a green signal stating that the “white paper is complete and understandable to investors”. Furthermore, it has also said that the candidate met all the minimum requirements as needed by the law.
By law, in order to sell generic drugs in the United States, they must be approved by the FDA.
However, ICO’s are legal in France even without the AMF approval. But, only those that are approved under this law can be promoted directly to the public. The ‘approval visa’ granted by AMF is valid for six months till June 01, 2020.
The regulatory body has further clarified that only the approved proposal is considered to be sanctioned under the law and this does not extend to the token issuer.
France Cryptocurrency Law
In April this year, the French government approved a new law called the PACTE law. This law based on business transformation also incorporated a seperate segment on Initial Coin Offerings (ICO).
Under this law, the token issuer applying for the visa certificate of ICO must have all the necessary documentation in place. Along with this, the proposal or the whitepaper needs to clearly mention the relevant information as well as the risks associated to the project.
The PACTE law further noted that the ICO proposal requires an optional approval from AMF.
This also applies for cryptocurrency exchanges or firms offering custodian services for crypto. The AMF, specifically intended for the development of ICO, has also stated that it is already in talks with other crypto services providers.
Although, it is a leading step in the development of ICO, the PACTE law does not apply to security tokens. Be it as may, it is certain that governments are ready to take bolder and mature steps that would define the future of the crypto industry.
The opinion of the writer is their own and do not constitute financial advice in any way whatsoever. Edited by Sean Vanian, contributor for The Coin Radar.