The president of the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani toughened her tone on Monday towards players in the crypto-asset sector by adding to the regulatory dimension a call for a better economic and social impact.
The crypto universe is (…) now expected on its ability to comply with regulations and I will add its ability to demonstrate its economic and social usefulness, declared Ms. Barbat-Layani on the occasion of the third Fintech forum, a day of exchanges organized on the premises of the Banque de France by the AMF and the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR).
The President of the AMF expects more both in terms of job creation and in contribution to financing the economy and businesses, particularly in the ecological transition segment.
The protection of investors remains at the center of the AMF’s concerns, especially since crypto-assets have become the first subject on which our department which receives complaints from investors is referred, specified Ms. Barbat-Layani.
Through their voice and that of the Governor of the Bank of France Franois Villeroy de Galhau, the ACPR (banking and insurance policeman) and the AMF have however reaffirmed their support for innovation and the potential of blockchain (block chain ), a decentralized virtual register, for the world of finance.
At the same time, they call for a new stage of European regulation in this area.
Called MiCa 2, its mission will be to further supervise crypto conglomerates (…) bringing together services normally segregated in traditional finance, not exempt from the risks of conflicts of interest or even failure and loss of client assets, echoing the resounding bankruptcy last year of the cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX, said the boss of the AMF.
The AMF also announced the launch of a working group with the ACPR on disintermediate finance (term preferred by the decentralized Banque de France), or DeFi, which is developing in parallel with the traditional financial system.
It is also looking closely at the development of artificial intelligence, used in its market surveillance tools but which can present potential risks in terms of, for example, cybersecurity and the protection of personal data.
The Fintech forum is being held in a gloomy context, with young financial startups having the greatest difficulty raising money. As an illustration, the ACPR window open to project leaders was only requested 63 times between January and August, compared to around a hundred over the same period in 2022.