French financial market regulator approves first ICO application after updating rules

In the US, the hype surrounding ICOs may have subsided, but France seems to have renewed interest. On December 17, the French financial regulator, the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF), approved the first ICO application.

The application comes from French-ICO, which has developed a platform for project financing using cryptocurrencies. The company was the first to be whitelisted, and the news was posted on the AMF website.

Reuters reported in July this year that the AMF is communicating with three or four institutions involved in the ICO business, and there may be more similar conversations soon.

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French-ICO is the first company to be approved, and AMF's support will be effective until the end of the originally scheduled June 1, 2020 subscription period. The AMF website also states that although it has its own choice whether to approve a company (ICOs are still considered legal in France and do not require prior approval), only those ICOs that have been approved by the AMF can report to French Make a sale.

The AMF also explained that it approved only the ICO proposal and did not approve the token issuer. The French regulator stipulates that issuers can only submit applications for one ICO within a period of no more than 6 months.

The AMF states on its website that ICOs can be defined as "financing transactions through distributed ledger technology (DLT or" blockchain "), and ultimately issuing tokens". It said, "These tokens can be used to obtain goods or services, and the situation may vary."

The "PACTE Act" introduced in April this year is a new French law on corporate development and transformation, which includes specific systems for ICOs. The law states that the AMF will decide whether to approve the ICO application, and its purpose is to promote the development of the ICO. The law states that this does not apply to STOs, but only to issuing application tokens. Those who fail to comply with the new rules will face huge fines.

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