French Bank SocGen Obtains Regulatory Approval to Offer Crypto Assets Services

According to a breaking report released Sunday, Société Générale, a major bank in France, quietly received regulatory approval to operate as a digital asset service provider in the country last month.

The French bank was granted a digital asset service provider (DASP) license by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the French financial market regulator, allowing it to offer crypto services across the nation.

As of last month, through its fully integrated blockchain-focused subsidiary, Societe Generale Forge, the banking giant obtained the authorization that now enables it to offer crypto services to its customers. The move followed an increasing number of banks getting approval to provide digital asset services to users in the jurisdiction.

In July, French Bank BNP Paribas (BNP) entered the crypto custody space via a partnership with Swiss digital asset safekeeping firm Metaco. In April, the French Banque Delubac & Cie, became the first to obtain the status of Digital Asset Service Provider, allowing it to offer regulated crypto services in partnership with Swiss crypto infrastructure provider Taurus.

Cryptocurrency regulation in France took a major step in early May 2022 when the Binance crypto exchange was granted Digital Asset Service Provider registration. The registration allowed Binance to operate its crypto exchange in France.

The announcement established France as the first major European nation to give regulatory approval to a crypto exchange. The bold move secured France’s crypto exchange status and started attracting more crypto firms to operate in the country.

Early this month, Crypto.com followed Binance to launch its footprint in France after it got regulatory approval enabling it to operate as a digital asset service provider. From a regulatory perspective, France is considered crypto-friendly – it has one of the highest crypto adoption rates in Europe, with 16% of French users owning crypto.

Image source: Shutterstock