Davos 2023: Banking Panel Reinforces the Need for Crypto Regulation

January 20, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Bank of France Governor Calls for Mandatory Licensing for Crypto Companies

January 8, 2023 Bitcoin.com

French central bank governor pushes for crypto licensing ahead of EU laws

January 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

The Bank of France’s head said turmoil in the crypto markets proves the need to move to a mandatory licensing scheme for crypto firms “as soon as possible.”

The Bank of France’s governor has called for more stringent licensing requirements for crypto companies in France, citing the current turmoil in the crypto markets.

During a speech in Paris on Jan. 5, Francois Villeroy de Galhau said France shouldn’t wait for upcoming EU crypto laws to enact obligatory licensing for local digital asset service providers (DASPs).

The European Parliament’s Markets in Crypto Assets bill (MiCA) that provides a crypto-licensing regime isn’t expected to come into force until potentially sometime in 2024.

According to a Jan. 5 Bloomberg report, Villeroy addressed the country’s financial industry in his speech, stating:

“All the disorder in 2022 feeds a simple belief: it is desirable for France to move to an obligatory licensing of DASP as soon as possible, rather than just registration.”

Currently, crypto businesses providing crypto trading and custody are required to be “registered” with the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), the country’s market regulator.

A DASP license is optional, with those licensed forced to comply with a slew of requirements related to business organization, conduct and financing.

However, out of the 60 AMF-registered crypto firms, none are currently licensed as a DASP.

*Villeroy speaking in December 2017 at a panel in Paris. Source: The Jacques Delors Institute*

The call from Villeroy comes after an amendment was proposed in December by Senate finance commission member Hervé Maurey to eliminate a clause allowing companies to operate without a license.

Current laws in France allow firms to operate unlicensed until 2026 even if, or when, MiCA passes into law and establishes a licensing regime.

Deliberations in Parliament regarding the amendment will begin in January.

MiCA has been grinding its way through the EU Parliament since September 2020.

On Oct. 10, the crypto framework was passed by the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, the result of negotiations between the EU Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The final plenary vote for MiCA was rescheduled from the end of 2022 to February. European Parliament member Stefan Berger explained to Cointelegraph in November the reason for the delay was “the enormous amount of work for the lawyer linguists, given the length of the legal text.”

Global financial regulators will discuss crypto at G7: Report

May 17, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bank of France

Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau reportedly said that the recent crypto market volatility had been a “wake-up call” for global regulators.

Central bank governors and finance ministers from the Group of Seven, or G7, are reportedly planning to discuss the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

According to a Tuesday report from Reuters, Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau said representatives from the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom will likely speak on issues related to a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies at a meeting in Germany's cities of Bonn and Königswinter starting on Wednesday. Villeroy reportedly said that the recent crypto market volatility — likely referring to some stablecoins depegging from the U.S. dollar and prices of major tokens dropping — had been a “wake-up call” for global regulators.

“Europe paved the way with MiCA,” said Villeroy at an emerging markets conference in Paris, referring to the European Parliament’s legislation aimed at forming a regulatory framework on crypto. “We will probably [...] discuss these issues among many others at the G7 meeting in Germany this week.”

The Bank of France governor added in a speech to the Emerging Market Forum in Paris on Tuesday:

“Crypto assets could disrupt the international financial system if they are not regulated, overseen and interoperable in a consistent and appropriate manner across jurisdictions.”

According to the G7 website, finance ministers and central bank governors will meet in Germany from May 18–20 to discuss policies related to member nations’ recovery and financial stability due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “shaping the upcoming transformation processes in the context of digitalization and climate neutrality,” and business policy at the International Monetary Fund. The group issued guidelines around the possible rollout of central bank digital currencies in 2021 and reportedly warned that certain stablecoins could threaten the global financial system in 2019.

Villeroy has previously urged EU officials to develop a regulatory framework given crypto’s growing role in regional markets, saying they only had “one or two years" to act. Prior to his election victory in France, Emmanuel Macron said he supported the European Parliament's recent efforts to regulate crypto — including MiCA — adding that any rules should not hinder innovation.

Central Banks of France, Switzerland and BIS Complete Cross-Border CBDC Trial

December 9, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Africa to Trial Cross-Border Digital Currency Payments

September 3, 2021 Bitcoin.com

‘We don’t have much time left’ to regulate crypto, says Bank of France governor

June 29, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bank of France

"We in Europe need to move as quickly as possible or risk an erosion of our monetary sovereignty," said Francois Villeroy de Galhau.

Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that Europe should make crypto regulation a priority or risk digital assets challenging its monetary sovereignty.

At a Paris Europlace financial conference today, Villeroy said he believed the European Union only had “one or two years” left in which to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. To not act, according to the central bank governor, would “risk of an erosion of our monetary sovereignty” and potentially weaken the euro.

"I must stress here the urgency: we do not have much time left, one or two years," said Villeroy. “On both [digital] currencies and payments, we in Europe need to move as quickly as possible.”

Villeroy called on the EU “to adopt a regulatory framework in the coming months,” given the growing role cryptocurrencies are playing in regional markets. The use of cash declined during the first few months of the pandemic, a trend that Villeroy said could lead to "marginalization of the use of central bank money.”

The Bank of France governor has previously warned regulators against the potential risk of cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. In September he said big tech companies could potentially build “private financial infrastructures and monetary systems” — including issuing their own stablecoins — which could adversely impact financial sovereignty in the EU for decades.

In January, the bank completed a pilot program for its own CBDC, later reporting investors had purchased and sold 2 million euros — roughly $2.4 million at the time — worth of simulated shares. The Bank of France has said it will conduct other test runs for the digital currency this year.

Bank of France, Swiss Crypto Bank Test Securities Settlement Using CBDC

June 23, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Swiss, French Central Banks to Trial Wholesale CBDC Settlements With BIS and Private Sector

June 11, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Bank of France

Share this video