AMF (financial markets authority)
An independent public authority that regulates savings invested in financial instruments, oversees investor information and the orderly functioning of markets. For a brokerage firm, it becomes the reference regulator as soon as investment-advice (CIF) activity is added to credit or insurance intermediation.
Key points
- Regulates financial markets and savings products invested in securities.
- Approves financial investment advisers (CIF) via approved associations.
- Distinct from the ACPR: the AMF oversees markets, the ACPR oversees institutions.
- A broker adding CIF activity falls simultaneously under the AMF and the ACPR.
Frequently asked questions
Should a mortgage broker be concerned about the AMF?
Not directly, as long as they stick to credit and insurance intermediation. As soon as they direct clients toward savings products (unit-linked life insurance, real-estate investment trusts, etc.), they enter the financial-markets regulatory sphere and may need CIF status supervised by the AMF. It is best to clearly define the scope of one's services.
What is the difference between the AMF and the ACPR for a financial professional?
The ACPR licenses and supervises credit institutions, insurers and intermediaries (including credit and insurance brokers), while the AMF focuses on capital markets, funds and investment advice. The two authorities collaborate but have distinct remits: a multi-service broker may find themselves under both supervisors at the same time.
How does the AMF concretely protect the investor?
It publishes blacklists of unauthorized providers, imposes disclosure and risk-warning obligations, and can issue significant administrative sanctions. For a brokerage firm, alerting a client to a provider on the AMF blacklist is part of the disclosure duty and helps build trust.
In practice
A brokerage firm that supplements its credit offering with wealth-management advice must register as a CIF with an AMF-approved association and comply with its reporting obligations, in addition to its IOBSP duties toward the ACPR.
Official sources
- Our missions · AMF
- Article L519-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code · Légifrance
- Prudential supervision and resolution authority · ACPR (Banque de France)