Société Générale progresses in crypto space with digital asset services registration

The large French bank was registered by the country’s stock market regulator to provide custody, buy/sell and trading services on Sept. 27 but made no announcement of it.

The French stock market regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), approved France’s Société Générale bank as a digital assets service provider (DASP) on Sept. 27. Société Générale joined international operators such as Voyager, Bitpanda, Binance and Etoro as registered DASPs. The bank did not announce its approval. 

Société Générale’s digitally focused Forge subsidiary was registered to provide digital assets custody, the purchase/sale of digital assets for legal tender and the trading of digital assets against other digital assets. The French bank announced in June that it was partnering with Metaco, a digital asset management and infrastructure provider, to develop its digital asset custody operations.

Registration is mandatory for companies to carry out those activities in France. The AMF also provides licensing of DASPs, although none have obtained a license yet.

The Global Award goes to @platformsh! Congratulations to the team on their hard work that allowed them to expand internationally! pic.twitter.com/ryTSu21l9h

— Societe Generale Group (@SocieteGenerale) September 28, 2022

Several companies received AMF approval on Sept. 27, reportedly including Crypto.com, which went on to announce its intentions to build its European headquarters in Paris on Oct. 12.

Société Générale was founded in 1864, and is the third-largest bank in France and sixth-largest in Europe by assets. It announced new custody services to act as a fund custodian, valuator and liability manager for asset managers of institutional investors through its Societe Generale Securities Services on Sept. 21.

Société Générale has been developing its digital assets for some time. It structured the European Investment Bank’s 100-million euro ($98.4 million) digital bond issued in April 2021 and offered its first tokenized asset, a security token issued on the Tezos blockchain the same month.

Related: Bitcoin business in France: Regulation, education and cash buy frustration

The AMF shares crypto regulatory duties with the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution. Confusion over AMF policies led to the removal of crypto-related advertising at the French Grand Prix auto race in July.