The French Financial Markets Regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has blacklisted four crypto related websites for alleged unauthorized investor offerings. More than nine financial firms, including four crypto trading websites, faced the blacklisting earlier this week.
The firms were blacklisted for conducting domestic trading and investing services without the appropriate or legal authority to conduct the business. The official statement by AMF states that:
"It is warning the public against several companies from offering atypical investments without being authorized to do so"
The AMF stated that the websites offering crypto related investment and advice are not authorized to do so under the current regulations within France. As per the existing French laws, cryptocurrency and digital assets are not yet completely covered under the financial regulations. They are not regarded as financial or monetary instruments, which leaves the monitoring and validity of the crypto assets in a grey area.
However, the AMF has stated that such instruments need to be monitored and delegated with the same approach as financial instruments.
AMF had previously blacklisted over 21 financial websites, including many crypto broking websites earlier in September for conducting transactions and investments without regulations. Websites including www.achat-bitcoin.co, www.acheterdubitcoin.com, www.adg-placement.com, www.bitnexx.tech, www.buy-bitcoin-pagedemo.co.
The AMF was granted jurisdiction and monitoring of companies offering ICO in late September. The AMF retains the rights to grant licenses and permissions to such companies, though tokens issued through ICOs are not recognized as financial instruments.
The blacklisted websites include elos-patrimoine.com, iminage.com, ive-crypto.com.net and Infoconso.info.
The AMF has recently flagged multiple FX, cryptocurrency brokers and binary options in a recent clampdown against 'scams' in France. Websites targeting ICOs were targeted too, as reportedly none of them were authorized to trade in that sector.
Previously, the Central Banks in France along with the AMF had distanced themselves from the proposed selling of Bitcoin at tobacconists across France.
