The National Assembly of France has passed and act that will allow for insurers in France to engage in cryptocurrency investment and bitcoin without limitation.
The act is known as the Pacte Law “Plan d’action pour la croissance et la transformation des entreprises, Action plan for the growth and transformation of enterprises” on April 11th according to the local news outlet Les Echos.
The new act allows cryptocurrency investment for insurers in currencies like Bitcoin
According to Les Echos, a dual provision of the new bill allows insurers to invest in Crypto assets (without any limitations) via specialized funds.
Joel Giraud, member of the National Assembly of France said that allowing cryptocurrency investment was not the primary goal of the act but allows insurers to place Crypto asset products via specialised funds, he confirmed:
“This was not the primary goal of Pact, but insurers will actually be able to offer products based on crypto-assets. They will be able to do so through specialized funds”
This provision was made possible by two texts of the Pacte Act, Article 21 was amended to allow the placement of specialized professional funds (SPF) “in life insurance units of account.” The SPFs will be able to invest in any number of assets without any limitation.
Article 26 bis of the Covenant amended the provisions of the Monetary and Financial Code relating to assets eligible for investment by SPFs. Henceforth, any “good” subject to a “registration in a shared electronic recording device”, ie a blockchain, can compose the assets of an FPS, reports Les Echos.
Emilien Bernard-Alzias, a lawyer at Simmons & Simmons LLP said:
“With these two provisions, it is written in black and white that FPS can invest in crypto-active like bitcoin,”
This means that it is far broader in scope than just life insurance companies and may also apply to institutional investors in general, including pension funds.
It appears France has basically removed a restriction – also found in US law and elsewhere – that only circa 10% of funds under management can be invested in non-securities.
Meaning there’s now far greater regulatory clarity in one of the world’s biggest economies and in one of the leading architects of the European Union.
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