Crédit Agricole, Europe's third largest bank, gets crypto custody services license

French regulators have approved the third-largest bank in Europe, Crédit Agricole, and CACEIS, the asset services division of Santander, to provide crypto custody services in the country. CACEIS and Crédit Agricole join other conventional financial firms registered in France, including Societe Generale’s Forge and AXA Investment Managers.

According to December 2021 data, CACEIS has €4.6 trillion ($5.06 trillion) in custody services and €2.4 trillion ($2.64 trillion) in asset management services. Crédit Agricole holds a 69.5% stake in the company while Banco Santander holds a 30.5% stake.

The regulatory framework in France

France has one of the most sophisticated regulatory frameworks in all of Europe. Services relating to cryptocurrencies in France, such as custody, exchange, or trading services, require registration with the AMF.

The French regulatory in 2022 charged, Binance, which is also currently under siege from the US SEC, with providing illegal services without authorization.

The approval of the two financial institutions comes as the EU prepared to implement newly adopted crypto licensing regulations known as MiCA, which will become effective in 2024 and allow for registration.

CACEIS creating a crypto custody solution

According to sources, CACEIS was developing a cryptocurrency custody platform.

In 2021, the company was said to have been “looking for something highly integrated and not just something that handles the custody part, but something that meets comprehensive and diverse needs.”