Key Takeaways
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- France’s banking supervisor ACPR is conducting expanded AML/CTF inspections on dozens of registered crypto service providers (PSANs), including Binance and Coinhouse, to decide who qualifies for EU-wide licenses under MiCA.
- Findings feed into the AMF’s MiCA authorization process; failure to remediate ACPR concerns can trigger sanctions or jeopardize a firm’s ability to obtain a MiCA license from France.
- France, Austria, and Italy are pushing for EU-level supervision of major crypto firms to harmonize enforcement amid divergent national practices.
What happened?
France’s ACPR has widened its on-site and documentary AML/CTF controls across a broad set of PSAN-registered exchanges to test the robustness of their customer due diligence, monitoring, and risk frameworks as MiCA licensing ramps. Binance was previously asked to bolster risk controls, with typical remediation demands including staffing compliance teams and hardening IT systems. The ACPR shares inspection outcomes with the AMF, which ultimately grants the MiCA “agreement” enabling passporting across the EU. With only a handful of French MiCA approvals granted so far, most firms face a deadline of end-June 2026 to secure authorization, intensifying scrutiny over the next 18 months.
Why it matters
MiCA turns AML/CTF and operational resilience into gating items for EU-wide access, raising compliance costs and execution demands—especially for large, complex platforms. Firms that remediate quickly can secure first-mover advantages in passportable services, while laggards risk sanctions, license delays, and loss of market share. The push by France and others for ESMA-led oversight of systemic crypto entities could centralize standards and reduce regulatory arbitrage, but it also implies stricter, more uniform enforcement—affecting product rollouts, stablecoin operations, and exchange listings.
What’s next?
Watch for ACPR remediation timelines, public AMF decisions on major platforms, and any ESMA moves toward direct supervision of “significant” crypto firms. Track whether Binance and other large PSANs announce compliance hires or system overhauls, and how quickly additional MiCA approvals are granted in France versus other member states. Firms targeting EU growth should prioritize audited AML programs, robust transaction monitoring, and clear governance to accelerate licensing, as delays could constrain EU market access well into 2026.
