On Dec. 17, 2019, France’s financial regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), approved an ICO application for the first time.
French-ICO, a company that has developed a platform for funding projects using cryptocurrency, has become the first company to receive approval.
According to AMF website, although ICOs are considered legal in France without approval, only ICOs approved by AMF may be marketed directly to the public in France.
AMF defines an ICO as a “fundraising transaction carried out through a distributed ledger technology (DLT or “blockchain”) and resulting in a token issue.” The source notes that “these tokens can then be used to obtain goods or services, as the case may be.”
The regulator can only approve public offerings for utility tokens, and an applicant must be a registered entity in France. They must also have procedures for securing investor funds and comply with strict anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. Once approved, the ICO must take place within six months.
