Two French governmental bodies, the Treasury and the AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers), have reportedly debuted a bill with provisions to regulate ICOs in France.
Known as the ‘Pact Act’ (Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation), the bill lays out a range of provisions for crypto token sales. “We will be the first in the world to have an ad hoc Regulation on ICOs,” said Anne Maréchal, the AMF’s director of legal affairs. “We must attract the most beautiful projects to France.” (Translated quote.)
It is expected to be introduced to the Council of Ministers in June and will appear before French Parliament in September; lawmakers are hoping that the bill will be placed into law by year’s end.
The Pact Act Offers a ‘Path to Credibility’
“The Pact Act will say that the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is responsible for ICOs,” said General Treasury deputy director Sébastien Raspiller. (Translated quote.) Under the law, as it is currently drafted, ICO holders can apply to the AMF to obtain an official ‘stamp’ that will provide them with legal credibility.
Although the ‘stamp’ will be encouraged, it is not slated to be a requirement: “the serious people who come to see us want to dissociate themselves from the fraudsters,” Maréchal explained. “We are already encouraging them to adopt good practices.”
Still, “the AMF can not [sic] guarantee the soundness of a project or even the soundness of the code on the Blockchain,” noted Maréchal.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire made headlines in mid-May when he called for France to become the European epicenter of the Blockchain industry. “I was a neophyte a year ago, but now I’m passionate. It took me a year. Let us show a lot of pedagogy with our fellow citizens to make France the first place of blockchain & crypto-active innovation in Europe,” he said.
"J'etais néophyte il y a un an, mais à present, je me suis pris de passion. Mais cela m'a pris un an. Faisons preuve de bcp de pédagogie avec nos concitoyens pour faire de la France la première place d'innovation Blockchain/cryptos en UE" @BrunoLeMaire ce matin. Il se passe qch!
— Alex Stachtchenko (@StachAlex) May 15, 2018
