France Tightens AML Oversight of Exchanges Ahead of MiCA Licensing

_{Photo credit: Peter Y. Chuang / Unsplash.com}

French regulators are intensifying anti–money laundering audits on crypto exchanges as part of a broader push to vet which platforms will qualify for EU-wide permits under MiCA.

The Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), France’s banking and insurance supervisor, is carrying out on-site inspections and compliance reviews across “dozens” of digital-asset service providers. 

Under the inspections, firms are being assessed on AML and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) safeguards, internal governance, transaction monitoring, and risk management systems. Findings from the ACPR’s checks are shared with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the markets regulator, which can determine whether companies meet the standards for MiCA licensing.

The reviews come as France seeks to assert its role as a leader in compliance within the EU. The ACPR has indicated that only firms demonstrating strong risk controls will be eligible for the MiCA transition in 2026, as authorities aim to proactively identify and exclude non-compliant actors.

So far, only a handful of entities (such as Deblock, GOin, Bitstack, and CACEIS) have secured MiCA approval.