LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) has become the first company in France to obtain a license for crypto services, as a growing number of mainstream financial companies embrace crypto globally this year.
Societe Generale's crypto unit, Forge, is licensed as of Tuesday to offer services, including crypto custody, trading and sales, according to the website of France's AMF market regulator.
A slew of crypto firms, including the world's biggest exchange Binance, have already registered with the AMF.
Licensed firms, however, are subject to more onerous rules in areas including corporate governance, IT and compliance.
Crypto markets have rallied in 2023, spurred by growing interest in the volatile asset class by major U.S. financial firms including BlackRock and Fidelity.
Persons:
Tom Wilson, Sharon Singleton
Organizations:
Societe Generale, Societe, France's AMF, AMF, BlackRock, Fidelity, Thomson
Locations:
France, London