meta_id 3356762

On July 27, 2026, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) updated its guidance on crypto-asset advisory services provided by financial investment advisers (conseillers en investissements financiers, or CIF). The update addresses the application of the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCA) and the end of its transitional period, which now requires crypto-asset advisory services to be subject to specific authorisation and compliance with European-level rules. The AMF clarified the circumstances under which a CIF must obtain the status of crypto-asset service provider (prestataire de services sur crypto-actifs, or PSCA) to provide crypto-asset advisory services. Previously, in 2022, the AMF had outlined rules for CIFs operating in digital assets, when such advisory was optional. Under MiCA, crypto-asset advisory services now require mandatory authorisation as a PSCA. However, CIFs are not eligible for the notification procedure available to certain already-authorised entities, such as investment service providers. The scope of crypto-asset advisory under MiCA is broader than investment advisory under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID 2), as it encompasses advice on both crypto-asset transactions and the use of crypto-asset services. The AMF added a new question-and-answer section to its position-recommendation DOC-2006-23, complementing guidance from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The update provides non-exhaustive examples of situations where CIFs do or do not require PSCA status. CIFs do not need PSCA authorisation when providing non-personalised information about crypto-assets or PSCAs to the public, or when advising on financial instruments with crypto-asset underlyings, such as financial index assets or debt securities indexed to crypto-assets. The updated guidance is available in the AMF's position-recommendation DOC-2006-23.