The chair of France’s financial markets authority (AMF), Marie-Anne Barbat Layani, said on Monday that the crypto companies must seek a license if they are not yet registered in the country.

Last year, the French Senate proposed a regulation that all crypto firms must seek regulatory registration in anticipation of the European Union’s new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation by Oct. 1, 2023, and Barbat-Layani seemed to be supporting the development last year as well.

According to a post on Twitter by the regulator, Barbat-Layani said at an event, “The AMF, like the parliament, calls for an accelerated move to a regime of obligatory licensing for non-registered providers” of crypto services.

Various significant firms have already registered with the AMF, such as Binance. The registration for the license involves the inspection of governance and compliance of companies with anti-money laundering rules. 

France’s Deputy Central Bank Governor Denis Beau stated in a published article in the Le Figaro newspaper that having a mandatory license in the country will be “desirable,” along with the European MICA law coming into effect in 2024. In the wake of the meltdown of firms and stable coin ecosystem terra-Luna and another crypto exchange firm FTX, Beau’s statement seems to validate the reports that Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau is trying to make.

In the next week, on Jan 17, the National Assembly’s Finance Committee will discuss the Senate’s legal amendments to mandate the licensing registration for all crypto firms as it was opposed by the French government.

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