The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR) recall that providers providing a digital asset custody service on behalf of third parties and the purchase and sale of digital assets in legal tender before the entry into force of the Pacte law have until 18 December 2020 to comply with the registration obligation.

The Pacte law, which entered into force on 24 May 2019, requires that digital asset service providers (PSANs) providing digital asset custody services on behalf of third parties or the purchase and sale of digital assets in legal tender be previously registered with the AMF, after the assent of the ACPR, before carrying out their activities. Registration involves, in particular, the establishment of an organisation, procedures and an internal control mechanism to ensure compliance with the obligations under the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML-CFT) and the freezing of assets. The white list of registered PSANs is available on the AMF website.

Service providers who carried out one of these two activities subject to mandatory registration before 24 May 2019 have a period of twelve months after the publication of all the implementing texts to register with the AMF. This period expires on 18 December 2020.

From 19 December 2020, service providers providing, in France, digital asset custody services on behalf of third parties or the purchase and sale of digital assets in legal tender without being registered incur a penalty of two years' imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros pursuant to Articles L. 54-10-4 and L. 572-23 of the Monetary and Financial Code.

Therefore, providers not registered on this date will have to cease their activity in France pending their registration. The authorities will ensure compliance with the regulations and take appropriate action in the event of a breach. In particular, the AMF may publish a blacklist of unregistered service providers accompanied by a public warning and, if necessary, request in court the blocking of access to the websites of non-registered providers.

Pending the receipt of registration, the providers concerned will have to cease all acts of communication and promotion of their activities, and cease all activities except, for actors providing a digital asset custody service, the execution of instructions for the transfer of digital assets to an external wallet, in compliance with the regulations on AML-CFT and asset freeze.

For providers who have submitted their application for registration in a timely manner and whose registration procedure would be very advanced, the authorities will be able to take their situation into account on a case-by-case basis. In any case, these providers will have to suspend all promotional activity and not accept new customers before being registered.

The authorities therefore invite service providers who have not submitted their registration file to contact the AMF as soon as possible.

About amf
As an independent public authority, the AMF is responsible for ensuring the protection of savings invested in financial products, informing investors and ensuring the proper functioning of markets. Visit our website: https://www.amf-france.org

About ACPR
Backed by the Banque de France, the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution is the administrative authority that supervises the banking and insurance sectors and ensures financial stability. The ACPR is also responsible for the protection of the clientele of the controlled establishments and ensures the mission of combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. It also has resolution powers. The operational services of the ACPR are grouped within its General Secretariat. Visit our website https://acpr.banque-france.fr/