Last month, France's Financial Markets Authority (AMF)
announced its first approval for an initial coin offering (ICO).
The approval, known as an "ICO visa," was granted to
French ICO, a company that offers a platform for fundraising in
crypto assets, and is reportedly capped at €1 million and in
effect until June 1, 2020. In granting the ICO visa, the AMF
considered whether a number of criteria had been met, including
that the issuer of the tokens was incorporated as a legal entity
established or registered in France, and that the issuer had proper
systems in place to prevent money laundering and terrorist
financing. This approval was made in conjunction with French Law
No. 2019-486 of 22 May 2019, also referred to as the Action Plan
for Business Growth and Transformation law, a comprehensive legal
framework for cryptocurrencies that was adopted last spring.