Securities-related Laws

The French Treasury’s proposed ICO legislation specifies that tokens that “share the same characteristics as financial instruments would instead need to comply with regulations for public offerings of securities.” In a recent consultation with members of the public, AMF appeared to take a similar view, claiming that tokens could potentially be considered equity securities assuming that they provided to token holders the rights typically afforded shareholders of a traditional security. This would require an investigation, and AMF suggested that token sales issuers attempting to operate in France reach out to secure its approval pre-ICO.

France has two main regulated marketplaces for IPOs: Alternext and Euronext. For more information on pre-IPO requirements, please see AMF’s guidance here.

Sources

• AMF	Summary of replies to the public consultation on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and update on the UNICORN Programme

• Wall Street Journal

  France Allows Use of Blockchain to Trade Some Traditional Securities

• AtoZForex.com

  France Launches Blockchain Regulation Law

• Lexology

  A New Legislative Framework for ICOs in France

• Kramer Levin LLP

  Recent ICO Guidelines in France and Switzerland