Hello  ,

As the Indian summer draws to a close, September marks a busy period for Adan and the French and European Web 3 sector.

In consultation with its members, at its traditional post summer meeting, the Association set out the major ambitions for 2023 - 2024: Europeanisation on the one hand, and diversification of its membership on the other (from start-ups to the biggest companies, whether or not they are natives of Web 3 innovation), in order to strengthen its representativeness. September has already seen a number of steps taken in this direction, including ongoing recruitment focused on European affairs, the creation of a Tokenisation Committee, and our increased investment in non-financial issues such as video games and metavers (see below).

The autumn is also the time for elections to renew the chairmanships of our committees. Once again, congratulations to the Presidents elected for the coming year:

• Nicolas Louvet (Coinhouse) for the PSAN Committee.

• Frédéric Montagnon (Arianee) on the NFT Committee, with Constantin Garreau (PMU) as VP.

• Pierre d'Ormesson (Clifford Chance) on the Legal Committee, with Morgane Reicher (Kramer Levin) as VP.

• Marc Zeller (Aave Chan Initiative) on the DeFi Committee, with Alexis Masseron as VP.
  

But this autumn is also about business.

In Europe, after Adan responded in mid-September to the European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) first consultation on its draft technical standards for the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), a second round was launched in early October, this time focusing on sustainability, business continuity and transparency requirements. The European Commission launched a call for tenders for a study on the development of a methodology and suitability standards to reduce the environmental impact of crypto-assets. Debates in the European Parliament on virtual worlds continue with the publication of two reports. The European Parliament has adopted its advisory opinion on the amendment of the Directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC8), which will have an impact on crypto-asset markets.

In France, the post summer period is also getting off to a flying start. One of the industry's demands has been heard in the Finance Bill for 2024, presented on 27 September, which provides for an increase in the number of staff at the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) for its missions relating to sustainable finance and digital finance. However, we must be careful not to rejoice too quickly: the State budget must be approved by Parliament, and then some of these reinforcements must actually be assigned to support the PSAN as MiCA comes into force. In addition, other essential tax measures to make life easier for taxpayers and develop the industry have yet to be included in the Finance Bill. As for the bill to secure and regulate the digital space (Articles 1 and 15 of which involve Web 3), following the debates in the special committee at the National Assembly, Adan wishes to reiterate its support for the possible use of decentralised identity tools (dID) to verify the majority of people accessing pornographic sites, as well as the existence of ad hoc regulations for new Web 3 video games (JONUM) but above all adapted and exploitable by the youngest players in the sector. Finally, in the area of decentralised finance, the French authorities are continuing their explorations, the latest being that of the AMF, to which Adan has responded.

In the midst of this wealth of regulatory news for Web 3, the French Fintech Week 2023 opens, as it does every autumn. This initiative to promote the dynamism of financial innovation in France is supported by France Fintech, Paris & Co, the AMF and the ACPR, and Adan is delighted to be a partner once again this year. For this 2023 edition, the Association will be putting the spotlight on Web 3 on the afternoon of Wednesday 18 October for its Fintech 3.0 event. At the heart of the iconic Centorial in Paris, players from Web 3 and traditional finance will share their expertise and their vision of the transformations in the '2.0' financial landscape: decentralised finance, tokenisation, investment and payment in crypto-assets... And much more. The full programme and speakers can be found on the Fintech 3.0 website.

So see you soon, and enjoy reading our newsletter,

Faustine

PS: Welcome to Adan's three new members, and thank you for your trust and vital support!

On 18 October, at the Centorial in Paris, the Association will be hosting an afternoon of conferences focusing on Web 3 solutions for the financial sector.

Fintech 3.0 will bring together more than 30 speakers to take part in 6 panel discussions on the following themes:

• Decentralising finance: an alternative to financial intermediation.
• Tokenising: dematerialisation 3.0 of finance... and much more?
• Investing in crypto-assets: where, when and how?
• Diversifying finance: the viewpoint of the investment world.
• Paying in the age of Web 3.
• Securing our future: Web3 to preserve our sovereignt.

The conference will start at 2pm and end with a cocktail reception at 6.30pm to allow you to continue the discussions and debates with the speakers, participants and Adan.

Adan is particularly grateful to Coinhouse for hosting Fintech 3.0 at the Centorial.

Adan is proud to be a partner of the Paris Fintech Forum Communities 2023, which will take place online on Thursday 12 October from 2pm to 5pm.

FINTECH R:Evolution is the meeting place for the French and international fintech ecosystem. For its eighth edition, it will take place at the Maison de la Mutualité on 19 October 2023 in Paris. It will bring together the key players in the fintech sector - financial start-ups, investors, businesses, journalists, politicians and students - as well as the voices that will shape the financial world of 2023 and beyond.

With 5,000 participants and 300 speakers, the EBC is one of the not-to-be-missed events this autumn. For two days, Europe's Web3 ecosystem will be meeting in the heart of the city, at Barcelona's Fira, to learn about the latest trends, exchange ideas and network.

In July 2023, ESMA launched a public consultation on the introduction of a series of Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the European MiCA Regulation. They focus on disclosure, transparency, conflict of interest and governance requirements for crypto-asset service providers (CASP). These standards should make the text easier to read for all stakeholders.

In total, ESMA is expected to launch 3 consultations, the second of which was launched on 5 October, the third and final in the first quarter of 2024.

Adan would like to thank the European Securities and Markets Authority for giving industry players the opportunity to express their views through this consultation on the draft regulatory technical standard on the MiCA Regulation.

In summary, the Association supports the proposed technical standards. While there are a number of areas that could be developed further, the Association and its members have not identified any areas of particular concern for the development of the crypto-asset industry.

As a reminder, MiCA is due to come into force at the end of 2024 (June 2024 for the stablecoin provisions and December 2024 for the other provisions).

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) recently issued a report, dated 19 June 2023, setting out its initial thoughts on the regulatory issues associated with decentralised finance (DeFi). The document addresses key aspects of the sector, including protocol governance and emerging risks. The AMF also seeks to define 'decentralised finance' more precisely by proposing possible definitions and identifying the main use cases.

Adan welcomes this initiative, especially as discussions are underway at European and international level to examine the regulatory aspects of DeFi and potentially take legislative steps. Adan has actively contributed to this debate through its DeFi and Legal committees, providing educational documents and concrete proposals such as the report "Regulating DeFi in Europe: issues for consideration" and the response to the ACPR consultation on decentralised finance.

Adan's note includes comments in response to the AMF's reflections. The Association would like to stress that its members are available for further clarifications and in-depth discussions with the AMF, with the aim of contributing to the development of a regulatory framework adapted to the complexity of decentralised finance.

The Association's work is intensifying in the face of important regulatory discussions for the Web 3 industry.

With the 2024 Budget approved by the Council of Ministers and presented to the press a few days ago, the Association and its members are mobilising to make their voices heard. After being submitted to the Conseil d'État and the Haut conseil des finances publiques (HCFP) for their opinions, the PLF for 2024 was presented to the Council of Ministers on 27 September. We are now entering the parliamentary phase of the text.
Against this backdrop, the Association has finalised its positions through discussions with the Taxation and Accounting Working Group and meetings with several members of parliament. The Association is putting forward a number of proposals, such as the creation of a tax regime for games with monetisable digital objects (JONUM) in the budget section of the French Finance Bill, an increase in the number of staff at the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) to deal with PSAN, a system for deferring capital gains when digital assets are contributed to a company, and a regime for the free allocation of tokens. Adan will continue to mobilise throughout October to defend its amendments, which are necessary for the development of a more appropriate Web 3 taxation system.

The discussions surrounding the JONUM and the SREN law are entering a decisive phase. As a reminder, the SREN bill, unanimously adopted by the Senate on 5 July, was examined by the National Assembly at the end of September. This process follows intense summer negotiations, with more than 1,000 amendments discussed during the sessions, in which the Association played an active part. Our position emphasised the need for greater proportionality in relation to the initial experimental objectives, the need for a precursory framework in harmony with ongoing European developments, and the importance of not making simplistic shortcuts with gambling.
The definition adopted in the Senate raised concerns, in particular by prohibiting cash rewards for Web 3 gaming companies. In addition, it excluded certain digital assets from the definition of a monetisable digital object, creating a risk of legal uncertainty.
The proposed regulatory framework required adjustments, particularly with regard to the fight against money laundering, the protection of minors, and the appropriate control by the ANJ of JONUM using public blockchains.
During the debates in September, Adan worked actively with MPs and political groups to support crucial amendments. These amendments were adopted at the special committee meeting.
However, we note that the debates were tense and the votes were close. Article 1 of ARCOM was particularly controversial and the outcome of the debates is still uncertain. The Association is continuing to exchange views with its various contacts in order to come up with a proposal for an experiment best suited to this financial innovation.

Consultations are continuing to build a regulatory framework that will not jeopardise the competitiveness of Web 3 companies.

ESMA has launched its second public consultation on a series of MiCA-related technical standards. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched its second public consultation package on secondary legislation for the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), focusing on sustainability, business continuity and transparency requirements - see the ESMA press release here and the consultation document here.
The deadline for comments is 14 December 2023. This consultation follows an initial consultation on disclosure, transparency, conflicts of interest and governance of crypto-asset service providers in July.

The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published a consultative report on the regulation of decentralised finance (DeFi), highlighting nine key recommendations for securities regulators. These recommendations include applying the "same business, same risk, same rules" principle to regulate DeFi, empowering stakeholders, converging overriding financial regulations, managing conflicts of interest, identifying and managing DeFi risks, transparency of information, enforcement of existing laws, cross-border cooperation and assessing the interconnection between DeFi, crypto-assets and traditional financial markets.
From an EU perspective, fully decentralised crypto-asset services without any intermediaries are outside the scope of the Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) - leaving significant scope for divergent interpretation by regulators, creating a level of legal uncertainty. As such, these IOSCO recommendations will feed into the thinking of the European Commission (EC), which is already expected to review MiCA and the DeFi issue by late 2024/early 2025.

The FiDA, towards the deopacification of financial data? On 28 June, at the same time as PSD3, PSR and Digital Euro, the European Commission (EC) published its proposal for a new regulation on a Financial Data Access Framework (FiDA), also commonly known as the Open Finance Framework (OFF) - the text is available here. FiDA introduces "open finance" and provides - in broad terms - that: Financial institutions shall make available permission dashboards for customers to access financial data. Financial institutions develop common standards for sharing access to certain categories of data. Financial institutions are required to become members of schemes designed to govern the sharing of financial data. Scheme members must accept contractual liability. Financial institutions may charge for making data available. Only financial institutions and financial information service providers are eligible to access and process customer data. FISP must comply with EU rules on digital operational resilience, DORA.
While discussions are expected to accelerate in the coming months, the Association and its members are continuing their analysis of the text.

• Faustine Fleuret was the guest of Bfm Crypto on 5 September to give an overview of the concerns of decision-makers and regulators at the start of the 2023 academic year.
  
• On 11 September, Faustine Fleuret appeared before the French National Assembly's Special Committee on the Bill to secure and regulate the digital space in the context of JONUM regulation.
• Faustine Fleuret took part in the Smart Tech programme broadcast on BSmart on 11 September.
• Invited by Mastercard and The Payments Association EU, our President took part in an online conference on payments in France in 2030 on 12 September.
• Faustine Fleuret answered questions from Claudia Lomma for the "Techno Impact" podcast recorded on 12 September.
• On 14 September, Faustine Fleuret was invited to the 40th anniversary of the Club des Jeunes Financiers of the Centre des Professions Financières. This anniversary event was held at the French Senate, with a round table entitled "France in the crypto era".
• On stage at the FDDay organised by France Digitale on 20 September, our President took part in the debate entitled "Has Web 3 already gone? It was an opportunity to point out that Web 3 is a digital paradigm shift in all areas of our economy and users' daily lives.
• Faustine Fleuret was at Patrimonia from 26 to 27 September, at the Lyon Convention Centre, as president of the jury for the Patrimonia awards. She presented awards to the winners of the following prizes: La Relève, CGP le plus innovant, Innovation digitale, Entreprise citoyenne and Meilleure relation partenaire auprès des CGP.
• On 28 September, Faustine Fleuret was a guest at the second Crypto Meetup organised by KPMG at the NFT Factory.
• On 3 October, our Chairman attended the AM TECH DAY organised by L'Agefi. Faustine Fleuret spoke to Stéphanie Roy on issues specific to the Web 3 industry.