AMF Withdraws PSAN Registration of AUTOMATA France SAS from 30 June 2026

France's financial markets regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has formally deregistered AUTOMATA France SAS as a digital-asset service provider (PSAN) with effect from 30 June 2026. The decision, taken by the AMF's College on 7 May 2026 with the favourable opinion of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), follows findings that the company operated an unauthorised crowdfunding activity and that its directors and significant shareholders failed the fitness and propriety standards required under French law. For accounting firms, auditors, and CFOs with any exposure to French-registered digital asset operators, the enforcement action carries direct implications for client risk assessment, asset custody, and ongoing compliance documentation.

Background: What the AMF Found

Unauthorised Crowdfunding Activity

AUTOMATA France SAS operated through the website Vancelian.com. The AMF initiated the deregistration procedure on the basis that the company was conducting crowdfunding activity without holding the authorisations required under French financial law. Under the Code monétaire et financier, running such services without the correct licence is not merely a technical breach; it is treated as evidence that a firm lacks the integrity and competence standards demanded of PSAN registrants.

The regulator concluded that the illegal exercise of that crowdfunding activity demonstrated a failure by the company's leadership and significant shareholders to meet the honourability and competence requirements that underpin PSAN registration. That dual finding, an unlicensed activity compounded by a fitness failure, gave the AMF sufficient grounds to open proceedings and ultimately to confirm withdrawal of registration.

The Role of the ACPR

PSAN deregistrations in France require a favourable opinion from the ACPR, the prudential and resolution authority that oversees banks and insurers and shares supervisory responsibilities over digital-asset firms with the AMF. The ACPR's involvement signals that the concerns here were not confined to market conduct: the prudential dimension of the firm's activities was also weighed before the decision was confirmed.

The Wind-Down Framework

Why a Phased Effective Date Was Set

Rather than imposing immediate cessation, the AMF College used the flexibility available under the Code monétaire et financier to set 30 June 2026 as the effective date of deregistration. That gap between the 7 May decision and the effective date was intended to allow AUTOMATA France SAS to wind down in an orderly manner. The AMF has been in regular contact with the company's teams throughout this period to monitor compliance with the cessation plan and to protect client interests.

Obligations Imposed During the Wind-Down Period

Between the decision date and 30 June 2026, AUTOMATA France SAS was required to restrict its activity strictly to services and transactions necessary to settle its position. Specifically, the company was obligated to return control of clients' digital assets to those clients as quickly as possible, using the access methods clients had previously specified. No new business was permitted.

From 30 June 2026, three additional obligations became binding:

• Publicly inform all stakeholders that the PSAN registration has been withdrawn.
• Update the Vancelian.com website by removing every reference to AMF registration.
• Complete implementation of the ordered cessation plan.

The AMF has been explicit that investor protection is the regulator's overriding priority throughout this process.

Regulatory Context: PSAN to CASP Under MiCA

France's PSAN Regime and the MiCA Transition

France's PSAN framework, introduced under the PACTE Act, was one of the first national digital-asset registration regimes in the European Union. It has operated in parallel with the rollout of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), which came into full effect across EU member states from 30 December 2024. As of 1 July 2026, the French transitional period allowing PSAN-registered firms to continue operating without a full MiCA Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) authorisation has also expired. You can read more about how that transition affects firms across the EU in our coverage of the MiCA transitional period expiry and mandatory CASP authorisation.

The timing of the AUTOMATA France deregistration is therefore notable. It lands precisely at the point where France's legacy PSAN register is being superseded by the MiCA CASP authorisation process. A firm that exits the register now, voluntarily or otherwise, cannot rely on any transitional grace period to continue offering services.

ESMA's Broader Wind-Down Expectations

The AMF's approach mirrors expectations set out at the European level. ESMA has made clear that unauthorised crypto-asset service providers must wind down in an orderly way while protecting client assets, a position that aligns directly with how the AMF has structured the AUTOMATA France cessation. For context on how ESMA's CASP wind-down expectations apply across the EU, see our article on how ESMA's CASP wind-down expectations apply across the EU.

What This Means for Accounting Firms and CFOs

Client and Counterparty Exposure

Any firm whose clients held digital assets on Vancelian.com, or had treasury or operational exposure to AUTOMATA France SAS, should treat the deregistration as a trigger event for review. The key questions are: have clients confirmed receipt of their digital assets following the custody return process, and is that return properly documented for balance sheet and tax purposes?

From an accounting standpoint, the return of digital assets to clients constitutes a disposal or receipt event depending on which side of the transaction a client sits. Accurate timestamping and valuation at the moment of transfer will be essential for correct recognition in the relevant reporting period. This is precisely the scenario where robust crypto bookkeeping software that captures on-chain events with audit-trail integrity earns its place in an engagement workflow.

PSAN Register Due Diligence

The AUTOMATA France case is a reminder that PSAN registration, while a meaningful threshold, has never guaranteed ongoing compliance. Firms conducting due diligence on French digital-asset counterparties should cross-reference the AMF's published PSAN register, verify that any firm they engage holds current, valid registration (or, post-transition, a MiCA CASP authorisation), and document that check. A firm that appears on the register today may be under active proceedings that are not yet visible in public sources.

AML and Fitness Considerations

The AMF's finding that AUTOMATA France SAS lacked the required honourability and competence at the level of its directors and significant shareholders is directly relevant to AML risk assessments. Under both the French AML framework and the EU's broader anti-money laundering rules, fitness and propriety failures at a service provider are a red flag that should prompt enhanced due diligence on any related transactions. Accounting firms serving clients who had dealings with the firm should review whether those transactions require additional scrutiny or disclosure.

Digital asset accounting software that integrates compliance flags, entity-level risk scoring, and on-chain transaction tracing can reduce the manual burden of that review, provided the underlying data feeds are sourced from authoritative on-chain records rather than aggregated third-party databases of uncertain provenance.

Practical Steps for Firms Right Now

Immediate Actions

• Check whether any client holds or held assets on Vancelian.com and obtain written confirmation of asset return.
• Record the fair value of returned digital assets at the date of transfer for accounting and tax purposes.
• Update counterparty risk registers to reflect AUTOMATA France SAS's deregistered status from 30 June 2026.
• Verify that Vancelian.com no longer displays any AMF registration claim; if it does, that is a separate compliance concern to flag.
• Review AML files for any client transactions routed through the platform and assess whether enhanced due diligence documentation is needed.

Longer-Term Compliance Infrastructure

This enforcement action reflects a broader pattern of French and EU regulators tightening their grip on the PSAN-to-CASP transition. Firms that manage digital asset portfolios or advise clients who do should be building the compliance infrastructure now: structured transaction records, entity verification workflows, and digital asset accounting software capable of handling custody events, forced asset returns, and the associated tax recognition points. Relying on manual processes or spreadsheets for this level of detail creates audit risk that regulators, and clients, will increasingly not tolerate.

Source: Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF)