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| Dimension |
Pinned 🇫🇷 France partly open Verified 2026-07-15
|
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA)
partly open
Verified 2026-07-15
|
|---|---|---|
| Licence type | MiCA CASP authorisation (French 'agrement PSCA'); replaces the legacy PSAN regime (mandatory AML registration + optional licence). A single authorisation covers the 10 MiCA services. | VARA VASP licence under the Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023 - licensed PER ACTIVITY (Advisory, Broker-Dealer, Custody, Exchange, Lending & Borrowing, Management & Investment, Transfer & Settlement, plus VA Issuance). A DET/free-zone commercial licence is also required. |
| Regulator | AMF (Autorite des marches financiers) grants and supervises the CASP authorisation; ACPR (Banque de France) gives binding assent on AML/CFT and prudential aspects via a joint examination team. | VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) - sole authority across the Emirate of Dubai except the DIFC. Parallel UAE regimes exist: ADGM/FSRA (Abu Dhabi), DFSA (DIFC), and federal SCA/Central Bank. |
| Capital requirement | France capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. |
| Timeline to authorisation | France timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. |
| Local substance | France local substance is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) local substance is included in the £349 pass. |
| Application cost | France application cost is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) application cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Ongoing cost | France ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Passporting | France passporting is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) passporting is included in the £349 pass. |
| MiCA CASPs approved | France mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. |
| Key restrictions | France key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. |
| Recent changes | France used the full 18-month transition, ending 1 Jul 2026 (today). Deblock first CASP (May 2025), SG-Forge (Oct 2025); ~18 CASPs authorised by 28 May 2026. AMF adopted ESMA staff knowledge/competence guidelines (Mar 2026). | 'Rulebook 2.0' reissued all twelve rulebooks effective 19 Jun 2025 (mandatory Travel Rule, wind-down plans, TLPT, a new VA Issuance rulebook). VARA issued a circular implementing UAE federal anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and proliferation financing requirements for VASPs (4 March 2026), an updated Travel Rule circular (24 February 2026), and an AML/CFT Business Risk Assessment Guidance (12 June 2026). VARA's rulebook site separately hosts a non-binding Guidance on the Virtual Asset Issuance Rulebook, covering two issuance pathways (Category 1: fiat- and asset-referenced tokens needing a VARA licence and reserve assets, except direct-ownership tokens; Category 2: other tokens, distributed only via VARA-licensed distributors or broker-dealers); this document carries no visible date on VARA's own rulebook page, but contemporaneous legal reporting consistently dates its publication to 9 April 2026. VARA has previously stated it penalised around 19 unlicensed firms. Legal-press reporting records VARA's 50th VASP licence (Tribe Tokenisation FZE) in early July 2026. No VARA news items have been published since 12 June 2026 as of 15 July 2026. |
| Difficulty rating | France difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. |
Informational only, not legal advice. A delta compares the sortable figure only (capital, timeline, cost, difficulty, passporting, approvals); it is not a judgement on overall suitability. Verify with qualified counsel before acting.
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