French AMF responds to EU crypto asset advisory: establishment of classification is premature and proposes special terms for stablecoins

Source: CointelegraphChina

Editor's Note: The original title was "French Financial Regulatory Agency Responds to the European Commission's Cryptocurrency Asset Advisory"

As the European Commission completed its public consultation on cryptocurrency assets in March, major French financial regulators stepped in to express their position on this issue.

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The French securities market regulator, the French Financial Market Authority (AMF), has issued an official response to the European Community ’s consultation, which outlines some of the basic recommendations on crypto assets envisioned within the European Community.

It is too early to establish a classification of crypto assets

The French Financial Markets Authority stated in a statement on April 7 that the classification of crypto assets should be based on existing categories in order to distinguish which crypto assets can be used as financial instruments and which cannot.

According to a report by Finance Magnates, the French Financial Market Authority also pointed out that it is too early to establish an accurate classification of encrypted assets. According to reports, regulators define all encrypted assets as "a digital asset that may depend on cryptography and exist in a distributed ledger."

A spokesperson for the French Financial Markets Authority confirmed to Cointelegraph that the agency believes that this is not the appropriate time to strictly classify crypto assets, noting:

"The French Financial Market Authority believes that it may be premature to provide accurate classification of crypto assets at this stage. Only after receiving reliable feedback can we judge the relevance of accurate classification (for example," utility token " , "Securities Token", "Payment Token", "Stable Currency", etc.). "

At the same time, the representative also pointed out the importance of broadly defining crypto assets within the EU in order to provide a “fair playing field between entities regulated by the state and entities not regulated by the home country”.

French Financial Market Authority raises concerns about global stablecoins

In addition to the remarks on the classification of cryptocurrency assets, the French regulator also proposed the use of special provisions for stablecoins-this is a cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable market price by linking to another asset or a basket of assets.

The French Financial Market Authority responded to France ’s opposition to Facebook ’s proposed Libra digital currency and outlined its concerns about the impact of stablecoins on the economy. The regulator stated:

"The proposal will allow a regulatory framework to be applied to any stable currency, regardless of its size. However, this requires a line between the mandatory stable currency and other payment tokens that are only partially protected by the mandatory requirement. "

In addition, the French Financial Market Authority also expressed support for the creation of inter-bank settlement assets in central bank currency to facilitate the remittance payment process on the chain. In the official notice, the regulator also recommended the creation of a European-level digital laboratory to test items related to security tokens to overcome regulatory obstacles.

France is testing its central bank digital currency

The European Commission launched a public consultation on establishing a framework for the European crypto asset market on December 19, 2019. The consultation will continue until March 19, 2020, aiming to clarify the classification of crypto assets and outline the potential use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to promote the development of digital finance in Europe.

So far, the French authorities have been paying close attention to cryptocurrency and blockchain-based development. On March 30, the French central bank officially launched a plan to test the integration of the central bank's digital currency and interbank settlement. In early March, the French Financial Market Authority announced that it is considering establishing a regulatory sandbox aimed at studying the impact of security tokens on the EU.

Original link: https://cointelegraph.cn.com/news/french-financial-regulator-responds-to-eus-crypto-consultation

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