Banque de France Governor Seeks €300 Billion DLT Pilot Ceilings

Banque de France Gov. Emmanuel Moulin urged EU policymakers to make the bloc’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) Pilot Regime permanent and raise its activity ceilings to around €300 billion, proposing changes to the framework for tokenized financial markets.

Moulin made the recommendations at the ACPR-AMF Fintech Forum in Paris on Oct. 2, 2026. He chairs the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR); AMF stands for Autorité des marchés financiers. Under his proposal, the regime could become permanent through the EU’s Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP). The regime covers market infrastructures that use distributed ledger technology. The changes remain recommendations, not adopted EU measures.

Moulin also proposed a targeted revision of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) to clarify how it applies to tokenized bank deposits and stablecoins. He called for clearer rules on non-euro stablecoins used in everyday payments and arrangements involving multiple issuers.

He identified tokenization, artificial intelligence and geopolitical fragmentation as challenges for the coming decade. Tokenization could shorten settlement times and reduce transaction costs, while dependence on non-European infrastructure and non-euro-denominated settlement assets could raise financial stability and sovereignty concerns.

The Eurosystem launched Pontes on Sept. 21, 2026, to let financial intermediaries settle wholesale transactions in tokenized assets using central bank money. Appia is intended to help shape a longer-term, integrated European framework for tokenized finance.

Moulin also cited risks from AI in access to credit and insurance, customers’ ability to understand decisions, and cybersecurity. The ACPR is scheduled to oversee high-risk AI systems used in credit decisions, risk assessment and insurance pricing starting in December 2027.