France Whitelisting Firms That Follow New ICO Regulations

Facebook’s Libra may have had the spotlight for the past month or so but while that whole debacle continues, let’s see what Europe is doing with cryptocurrencies. Specifically, let’s take a look at what France has been doing recently. 

La France has been getting its head down recently and is getting ready to approve the first wave of cryptocurrency companies thanks to new legislation.

These new rules mean that the crypto firms will voluntarily abide by a regulatory framework that requires them to pay tax, provide consumer protection and meet capital requirements. 

These new rules are to be implemented later in the month.

For businesses that follow the rules will receive approval from the nation’s Financial Markets Authority (AMF) and will essentially be whitelisted.

Anne Marechal, the executive director of legal matter at France’s Financial Markets Authority has said, “France is a precursor. We will have a legal, tax and regulatory framework. We are discussing with about four potential ICO organizers.”

The authorities are also reportedly in talks with more crypto exchanges, custodians and so on, so more could be on their way. 

The cryptocurrency rules for France and ICO-backed businesses became official earlier in 2019 following the PACTE (Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation) which was adopted by the nations national assembly back in April.

 On top of this, these ICO’s and new firms won’t be your typical unregulated affairs that were seen in the unexpected surge at the end of 2017. Consumers will especially be receiving further protection over their investments under the new rules.

Digital currency companies operating under the legislation will have to be legally registered France, provide an investor prospectus, safeguard any assets offered and work with the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations.

As reported by TNW:

“France is one of the more progressive nations when it comes to tackling cryptocurrency regulatory issues and is seemingly never afraid of getting stuck in.”

The nation recently flexed its position in the G7 - Group of Seven - body to create a new subsidiary to look into how central banks can make sure cryptocurrencies adhere to money-laundering and consumer protection rules.