Banque de France calls for EU-wide crypto supervision by ESMA

Banque de France governor François Villeroy de Galhau urged ESMA to gain full supervisory authority over crypto-asset issuers at a Paris fintech forum.

At the ACPR‑AMF Fintech Forum in Paris, Banque de France governor François Villeroy de Galhau called on the EU to give the European Securities and Markets Authority full supervision of crypto-asset issuers across the bloc.

Villeroy presented the change as an update to the Markets in Crypto‑Assets (MiCA) rules aimed at limiting cross-border multi-issuance and reducing arbitrage during market stress. He said tighter oversight would help manage risks linked to stablecoins.

He warned that the rapid growth of USD‑pegged stablecoins could weaken the euro’s role as a settlement currency and urged rules that cover tokens issued both inside and outside the EU. He asked that ESMA work alongside the AMF and other national regulators to coordinate supervision.

The governor pushed for public and private measures to keep central bank money central to Europe’s payment system. He described a wholesale digital euro as a priority and outlined two Banque de France projects.

Pontes aims to let financial institutions settle tokenized assets in central bank money using TARGET services or a distributed ledger. Appia plans a shared registry where tokenized central bank money, tokenized deposits and tokenized securities can be exchanged on the same platform.

Villeroy challenged banks to create tokenized commercial money and noted a consortium of nine European banks exploring the space. On technical choices he observed that tokenized deposits and bank-issued euro stablecoins are both possible and said, "We could have both, but we must not end up with neither."

He also reported that the ACPR has created a new directorate for innovation, data and technology risks and referenced EU work on AI and cyber resilience that will affect fintech firms and financial institutions.

France urges ESMA to supervise EU crypto issuers