Société Générale’s Crypto Arm Receives Crypto Licence from France’s AMF
- The AMF has registered over 80 crypto firms, but SC Forge was the first to receive a full license.
- French laws require crypto service providers to register with the AMF before offering their services.
- French regulators recently revealed that the French arm of Binance was the subject of investigations for possibly violating local laws.
Forge, a division of Société Générale, the third-largest bank in France, has become the first organization in France to be licensed as a digital asset provider. The company received the highest level of regulatory approval available in France and can now custody digital assets, sell them, and trade them against each other.
The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), France’s regulatory body, currently has a two-tiered system for regulating cryptocurrencies. The AMF requires crypto firms to first register with it before offering their services.
However, service providers are subject to a rigorous application process to obtain a full license. More than 80 crypto companies are registered with the AMF, but none have managed to secure a full license until SC Forge.
Reacting to today’s news, Jean-Marc Stenger, SG Forge’s CEO, said in a statement,
With the DASP license approval, Societe Generale-Forge confirms its pioneering role in the crypto assets ecosystem. This step will allow us to continue supporting our institutional clients wishing to benefit from services on digital assets that meet the highest standards of compliance and banking security.
Interestingly, Société Générale has maintained an active presence in the cryptocurrency space, issuing security tokens and euro bonds on the Tezos and Ethereum blockchains, as well as promoting Dai stablecoin loans in exchange for bond tokens.
Meanwhile, France has been working to align its domestic rules with EU-wide policies introduced by the approval of the Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill. MiCA is the world’s first comprehensive policy on cryptocurrency, providing much-needed clarity for crypto service providers.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
