Société Générale subsidiary Forge has become the first entity to obtain a crypto services license in France, according to a July 19 announcement.
The company is the blockchain subsidiary of France’s third-largest bank, Société Générale. It is currently the only firm to hold France’s digital asset service provider (DASP) license, which is offered by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).
Jean-Marc Stenger, the CEO of Société Générale Forge, said:
“This will allow us to continue supporting our institutional clients wishing to benefit from services on digital assets that meet the highest standards of compliance and banking security.”
Société Générale broadly described the DASP license as the “highest level” of digital asset certification that companies can obtain at present. It drew attention to the license’s focus on security, compliance, internal control, and regulatory capital.
The firm said that, in addition to helping it meet demand from institution clients, the license will help it to develop its Euro CoinVertible (EURCV) stablecoin. The firm released the stablecoin released on Ethereum in April, though it attracted controversy as independent developers highlighted apparent flaws in the project’s code.
Société Générale Forge also acknowledged that the license would help it prepare to work within Europe’s upcoming MiCA regulations. In a report, Bloomberg explained that crypto services will be required to have a license from an EU member state in order to operate under the region’s MiCA rules starting in January 2025.
DASP license builds on registration
Société Générale Forge said that, before it obtained its current DASP license, it received its DASP registration status in September 2022.
It called that registration a “mandatory step” toward its ability to engage in various activities. The registration specifically allowed the firm to offer digital asset custody, purchases and sales of digital assets for legal tender, and digital asset trading.
While Société Générale Forge is the only company to obtain a French DASP license, 90 firms have received France’s lesser DASP registration. Notable firms that have done so include Binance France, Etoro, Crypto.com (as Foris), and Bitpanda.
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