French regulator warns investors against dealing with illegal cryptocurrency firms

The French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) updated the list of unregistered companies whose activities relate to investments in cryptocurrencies.

On October 1, the regulator added 16 sites to the list. According to it, the organisations offered investment products and services without authority to do so.

The AMF stressed that the list is not exhaustive, as “new unauthorised entities appear regularly”.

“To ensure that the intermediary offering you financial products or services is authorised to operate in France, you can consult the register of authorised investment service providers, the list of authorised intermediaries in the categories of financial investment advisers or crowdfunding,” the statement said.

Earlier, a member of the National Assembly of France, Pierre Person proposed amendments to the “Finance Law 2022” project, aiming to simplify access to cryptocurrencies and increase France’s investment attractiveness.

I’ve filed today a series of amendments aimed at improving the tax regime for crypto-assets.

Their adoption would simplify the lives of crypto-asset holders and strengthen the attractiveness of this sector in France. https://t.co/d7S1vXWHYg

⤵️

— Pierre PERSON (@Pierr_Person) September 30, 2021

In October 2020, France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged tougher regulation of the cryptocurrency industry. He linked digital assets to money laundering, drug trafficking and arms dealing.

In December, it emerged that the ministry planned to strengthen KYC-procedures for Bitcoin users and to introduce mandatory registration of crypto exchanges without fiat support.

In the summer of 2021, AMF proposed giving ESMA powers to oversee the crypto industry as part of a package of reforms to strengthen EU financial regulation.

Subscribe to ForkLog news on Twitter!