The Financial Markets Authority of France (AMF) just announced that it had approved its very first ICO in the country.
The recipient who got the AMF “ICO visa” (a special crypto fundraising platform names French-ICO) was the one to meet the minimum guarantees that are demanded by local law. One of the “winning” elements were an easy-to-understand white paper. The understanding of a white paper is often a tricky task, so the fact that this ICO included a paper that investors can actually comprehend was pivotal in the regulator’s final decision to proceed with the ICO.
What ICO visas do is make sure that sales do not contribute to investors’ risk. All applicants must persuade the AMF that all relevant information regarding the sale of tokens is included and easy to understand. Also, potential risks are described, so the process if more objective and transparent. Any approval does not act as an endorsement for the company that is filing the ICO.
Under the AMF’s rules, the regulator can approve public offerings for crypto tokens, and every applicant must be registered in France. All applicants must also have strong AML requirements. If a company receives an approval, the ICO should take place within 6 months of the approval.
As reported by press, France was one of the countries that passed a rather detailed legal framework for digital coins in 2019. The law is called PACTE and it provides ICO applicants and crypto companies legal certainty in exchange for being regulated by the Financial Markets Authority. Included in the PACTE law is a guaranteed bank account and the option to launch a token sale via France’s ICO visa procedure.
What is more, companies wishing to host a token sale can do so without registration, but the difference is that unregistered ICOs in France cannot be promoted to investors.
French-ICO got its visa this week on Tuesday. The ICO is begin to commence in March and the sale is capped at exactly EUR 1 million, as reported by its website. The visa will expire on June 1st, 2020.
Many of the big ICOs planned for 2020 fell apart, especially those planned by some “giants”. The reason for that is that the ICO market is very fragmented, regulated in different ways and in some cases, extremely risky for investors.