The French National Assembly has voted to legislate stricter authorization rules for cryptocurrency startups in order to bring local legislation in line with the rules proposed by the European Union (EU).
The vote was approved with 109 votes (60.5%) in favor and 71 (39.5%) against. The French Senate has already approved the bill, which will now pass into the hands of the president, Emmanuel Macron, who has 15 days to approve it or return it to the legislature.
✅ Projet de loi DDADUE dans les domaines de l’économie, de la santé, du travail, des transports et de l’agriculture | Adoption par l’Assemblée nationale, compte tenu du texte de la commission mixte paritaire.
In savoir plus âž¡ï¸ https://t.co/CDlQxPrs1b#DirectAN pic.twitter.com/PZ2uuC4MrS— Assemblée nationale (@AssembleeNat) February 28, 2023
If approved, The new law will force French-based cryptocurrency service providers to meet stricter anti-money laundering rules, demonstrate that client funds are segregated, meet new guidelines on reporting to regulators, and provide information more detailed information on risks and conflicts of interest as a means of strengthening consumer protection.
However, the content of the bill would not apply to the 60 crypto companies registered with the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), the country’s financial regulator. These companies will continue to comply with the AMF rules until the probable approval of the EU cryptocurrency regulation with the bill. Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA).
Therefore, the stricter rules would only apply to crypto companies that register after July 2023.
Among the 60 companies registered with the AMF is Binance, which recently began piloting in-store payments in France with the Ingenico cloud payment platform through Binance Pay.
Crypto payments just got easier in France
We’ve recently partnered with @ingenicoa global payment solutions provider, to enable users to pay in crypto through #Binance Pay.
Another milestone for global crypto adoption pic.twitter.com/S8f8Pab7nW
—Binance (@binance) February 22, 2023
He new plan for stricter regulations was started by Herve Maurey, member of the Finance Committee of the French Senate, proposed in a parliamentary meeting held in December last year an amendment to remove a clause that allowed cryptocurrencies to operate without a license until 2026.
The Governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, he also pushed the agenda in a January 5 speech to members of the financial sector in Paris.
Like many regulators around the world, Villeroy de Galhau cited the need to respond to the recent turmoil in the cryptocurrency market as the reason for the bill, which wants it to enter into force “as soon as possible”.
Although the MiCA framework is likely to serve as a model for regulation of the cryptocurrency market in the EU, he added that France simply could not wait for more comprehensive laws to enact the licensing regime for digital asset service providers (DASPs). .
After two postponements, the EU will finally vote on the MICA regulation in April. If the result is positive, it is likely that the long-awaited cryptocurrency regulations will come into force sometime in 2024.
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