AMF narrows France’s crypto-advice authorisation perimeter

France’s Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) updated position-recommendation DOC-2006-23 on 27 July 2026, clarifying when financial investment advisers must obtain crypto-asset service provider status to advise clients on digital assets. See AMF, position-recommendation DOC-2006-23, updated 27 July 2026, Q&A section on crypto-asset advice.

The new question-and-answer section addresses the authorisation perimeter for conseil en crypto-actifs, or crypto-asset advice, under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).

MiCA makes crypto-asset advice an authorised service at EU level. A firm can obtain permission through a CASP authorisation, while certain entities that already hold relevant licences, including investment services providers, may use a notification procedure. The AMF said financial investment advisers, known in France as CIFs, are not eligible for that route.

The trigger is the nature of the recommendation. Article 3(1)(24) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 defines crypto-asset advice as offering, giving or agreeing to give personalised recommendations to a client, either at the client’s request or on the adviser’s initiative, concerning one or more transactions in crypto-assets or the use of crypto-asset services.

The definition separates client-specific recommendations from general information. The AMF’s Q&A repeats the criteria for determining when advice becomes personalised and gives examples of crypto-asset advice that falls within MiCA’s authorisation requirement.

Advice on financial instruments does not require a PSCA authorisation under the clarification, even where the underlying exposure relates to crypto-assets. The AMF gives investment funds and debt securities indexed to crypto-assets as examples.

Public, non-personalised information about crypto-assets or CASPs also sits outside the cited advice perimeter. Firms that publish research, distribute educational material or discuss products without tailoring a recommendation to an individual client remain within that distinction.

The AMF said the update responds to a need for clarification expressed by CIFs. Its document explains the French application of the MiCA advice perimeter, but it does not amend MiCA Level 1 or determine how another EU member state will interpret an equivalent advisory model.

For compliance teams, the immediate task is service-scope mapping. A CIF that gives a client a personalised recommendation about a crypto-asset transaction or the use of a crypto-asset service must assess whether it needs its own PSCA authorisation. It cannot rely on the notification procedure available to certain already authorised entities.

The operational friction lies in separating advice from adjacent activity. Client onboarding records, adviser scripts and product classifications must show whether a communication is general information, advice on a financial instrument or a personalised recommendation covered by MiCA. The AMF guidance does not specify a new reporting form, cost estimate or implementation timetable beyond the applicable authorisation framework.

The update applies to the French doctrine published on 27 July 2026 and primarily affects CIFs and other advisory models operating from France. It does not itself create passporting rights or establish an EU-wide test for every mixed financial-instrument and crypto-asset service.

French advisers must identify whether their service delivers a personalised crypto-asset recommendation, then choose the applicable CASP authorisation route before offering it. The unresolved question is how other EU member states will interpret equivalent advisory models.