To align local legislation with proposed European Union (EU) norms, the French National Assembly has voted to enact stiffer licensing requirements for new crypto businesses.
The motion received approval with 109 votes in favor and 71 votes against. The bill has already been approved by the French Senate and is now in the hands of President Emmanuel Macron, who has 15 days to either sign it into law or rescind it.
To strengthen consumer protection, the new law would require France-based cryptocurrency service providers to follow more stringent anti-money laundering regulations, demonstrate that customer funds are segregated, follow new reporting requirements for regulators, and provide more thorough risk and conflict of interest disclosures.
Binance, which recently started testing in-store payments in France using the cloud-based payment platform Ingenico via Binance Pay, is one of the 60-AMF registered businesses. Most regulators in the globe want this bill to take effect as soon as possible.
Hervé Maurey, a French Senate finance committee member, started the legislative push for stronger licensing regulations. Francois Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Bank of France, also promoted the agenda in a speech to members of the banking sector in January.
While MiCA will probably serve as the model for regulating the cryptocurrency market in the EU, adopting a licensing system for suppliers of digital asset services would make it more thorough. If the conclusion is favorable, the long-awaited crypto legislation will probably go into effect sometime in 2024.
Also Read: EU to Implement Tough Capital Rules for Banks holding Crypto
