The French securities regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), wishes to clarify the conditions applicable in France to investment services providers (ISPs) from Member States that have not transposed the provisions of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (2004/39/EC) and its implementing directive (2006/73/EC) within the requisite timeframes. This statement is made at the time of the entry into force of these provisions in France, and in light of the 22 October statement from the Committee of European Securities Regulators regarding the continuity of the relevant passports.
The AMF considers that an ISP operating in France under the freedom to provide services, in accordance with Article L. 532-18 of the Monetary and Financial Code (MFC), and having its registered office or place of effective management in another European Union Member State or a State party to the European Economic Area agreement that has not transposed the provisions of the aforementioned directives by 1 November 2007, must comply with the conduct of business rules in force in France since that date. Consequently, the ISP must apply Articles L. 533-11 to L. 533-16, L. 533-18 and L. 533-19 MFC and their implementing provisions, in particular the relevant provisions of Book III of the AMF General Regulation, to the extent that its home State has not transposed the corresponding provisions of the above directives into domestic law and made them enforceable or has not provided for comparable requirements applicable to the ISP.
The provisions in question refer, inter alia, to the obligation for ISPs to act in the best interests of their clients, to provide clients with fair, clear and accurate information, to verify the suitability or appropriateness of the products or services offered to the client, and to take the necessary measures to ensure best execution of client orders.
It should be noted that, pursuant to MiFID, Articles L. 532-18-1 and L. 532-18-2 MFC as amended give jurisdiction to the AMF with regards to the conduct of business rules applicable to French-based branches of ISPs from another Member State, and that the rules of conduct applicable to ISPs operating under the freedom to provide services in France were included in the AMF General Regulation until the MiFID provisions came into force in France.
