The Banque de France and the AMF call for “direct European supervision” for cryptocurrencies

The supervision of cryptocurrencies in the EU must be entrusted to Esma, the European market supervision body, argue in an article the president of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, and the president of the Authority of financial markets (AMF), Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani. “Direct supervision of Esma” on the “cryptoactives (…) would allow more effective surveillance” et “better protection for European investors”they write in a text published simultaneously Wednesday evening in The Echoes and the German economic daily Handelsblatt.

For the moment, it is the national supervisory authorities who, as in many areas of financial supervision, are responsible for this regulation. Gold, “cryptoasset markets are by nature cross-border” et “dominated by a few global players” with a “marketing (which) is done directly via the internet, for the moment without investor protection”explain the two leaders in this forum.

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“Major” risks

A regulation was certainly adopted last year by the European Union to regulate these markets on a large scale. But “the experience acquired by our authorities shows (…) that the entry into force of a European text alone cannot guarantee its strict and uniform application”they add. Especially since “the risks associated with cryptoassets can be major, such as encouraging money laundering and hidden transactions, investors risk being poorly protected, or even harmed”warn François Villeroy de Galhau and Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani.

The AMF has long defended the idea of ​​granting more market regulation powers to Esma, whose headquarters are in Paris, so that it becomes the “supervisor of supervisors” and can compete with the SEC, the powerful American market regulator. For the moment, the European institution only has a role of coordinating the action of the national authorities.

However, other EU states still express reservations about this proposal, refusing to see European supervision imposed on national legislation. “In this relatively new area of ​​supervision (of cryptocurrencies, editor’s note), the risk that this proposal comes up against the attachment of national authorities to their prerogatives is limited”however want to believe François Villeroy de Galhau and Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani.