France’s financial markets regulators on Thursday warned the French public of more cryptocurrency investment websites that do not have authorization to operate within the country.
The dual regulatory structure in France, which includes the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), is tackling unregulated provider of crypto-assets derivatives. In a joint statement, the watchdogs published a list of 26 brokers which were inviting investors to invest in digital assets without authorization to do so in France.
The list of recently identified sites includes the following domain names:
- www.365globalmarket.com
- www.buy-money.com
- www.algo-crypto.com
- www.bank-of-crypto.com
- www.bit24coin.com
- www .c4iex.com
- www.capital-coins.com
- www.cryptocash24.com
- www.cryptoeraonline.com
- www.cryptofrancecapital.com
- www.crypto-institute.com
- www.cryptomonaies.com
- www.cryptomoney888.com
- www.cryptoning.com
- www.cryptoquicker.com
- www.epargnebitcoin.com
- www.euro-crypto.com
- www.interactivecoins.com
- www.kryptofx.com
- www.kryptoneo.com
- www.lacentraledescryptomonnaies.com
- www.monnaiestech.com
- www.stock-crypto.com
- www.undercryptos.com
- www.union-crypto.com
- www.ydconsultant.com
The warning comes as Paris is seeking to police crypto activities, and in addition to such warnings, the industry regulator announced back in February that it is prohibiting the advertising and distribution of cryptocurrency derivatives.
France’s ACPR financial sector regulator also requires brokerage firms to seek approval prior to offering such contracts and adhere to good conduct.
Regulation for Bitcoin -style economy
“France has every interest in becoming the first major financial center to propose an ad-hoc legislative framework for companies making an Initial Coin Offering,” finance minister Le Maire wrote earlier this year.
One of the proposed rules was giving the AMF the authority to authorize companies to launch ICOs, as long as they respect certain criteria to protect investors.
Also in April, the French government has announced a tax reform plan, which reduces the tax rates on revenues generated by cryptocurrency transactions, and cut the high-band rate from 45 percent to 19 percent.
The stimulative effects of the tax cuts come as France changed the classification of bitcoin and its ilk, which currently fall into the “moveable property” category, meaning that it is subject the flat tax of 19 percent on capital gains. Before that, cryptocurrency gains were considered “industrial and commercial profits” while occasional transactions constituted as “non-commercial profits.”
The AMF said that the full list of unauthorized sites such as those described above is available on the regulator’s website. It also emphasized that these domains may change very quickly and that the list is not meant to be exhaustive.
Any financial intermediary offering or recommending investments must be on the list of financial institutions authorized to do business in France, as can be verified via www.regafi.fr. A list of authorized intermediaries in additional investor advisor categories can be accessed at orias.fr/search.
