French regulator accepting CASP applications ahead of MiCA rollout

France's financial markets regulator, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has begun accepting applications for crypto asset service providers (CASPs), six months ahead of Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations coming into force.

Beginning on Dec. 30, firms that provide any of ten crypto-related services will be required to have CASP authorization that will impose uniform rules for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, cybersecurity and other aspects of doing business.

France is getting a head start on pan-European rules

The MiCA requirements will replace France’s PACTE (Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation) regime. Firms whose activities were not previously subject to regulation or that have digital asset service provider authorization under PACTE will have until July 1, 2026, to transition to CASP authorization. There are over 100 such firms.

Those firms will not have a European “passport” to allow them to operate in other European Union countries until they receive CASP authorization. Under MiCA, authorization in one EU country gives a firm the right to operate in any of them. The AMF noted:

“The requirements set by the European legislators for MiCA authorisation are more stringent than those stipulated in the French legislation. […] The AMF therefore encourages interested parties to prepare as early as possible.”

The AMF has been preparing in advance for the transition to MiCA-based regulations. It began harmonizing national rules with MiCA regulations and planning measures to ease the transition of DASPs into CASP status in 2023.

Crypto firms are striving to keep up

Some firms have already taken steps to comply with the coming MiCA regulations. USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle, for example, announced in July that it had become MiCA compliant and would locate its European headquarters in France. It already had DASP registration.

MiCA regulations on stablecoins came into effect on June 30. Cryptocurrency exchanges have taken measures to comply with those regulations. Cardano has also declared that it has met MiCA regulations.

The European Parliament passed MiCA legislation in April 2023.