CACEIS Bank, a financial subsidiary of Crédit Agricole and Banco Santander, received a crypto custody license from the French regulator.
CACEIS Banking Group received a cryptocurrency custody license from the French financial markets authority (AMF). The company specializes in serving institutional clients and is one of the European market leaders in terms of assets. As of December 2021, CACEIS Bank had €2.4 trillion in assets under management and €4.6 trillion in assets in custody.
It also provides clearing, trust management, and middle office services for brokers, insurance companies, investment funds, pension funds, and other entities. CACEIS Bank is owned by Crédit Agricole (69.5%), a French financial conglomerate, one of the world’s largest, and Banco Santander (30.5%), the leading financial and credit group in Spain.
What’s interesting is that CACEIS received its license almost at the last moment, avoiding the stricter regulatory rules that should come into force in France on July 1 this year. A new set of rules for digital asset providers introduces tougher anti-money laundering measures, including the need to separate client funds and provide detailed information about risks and conflicts of interest. However, about 60 companies already operating under the AMF license won’t fall under the bill. These companies will be regulated under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) bill, which will finally take effect in 2024.
Moreover, Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest bank, also applied to the local regulator two days ago for a license to store digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.
