FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Damien Luqué, Martin Jarrige de la Sizeranne and Sacha Tartarin, Lacourte Raquin Tatar
1. Legal Framework 1.1 Key Laws and Regulations Principal Laws and Regulations
In addition, the French banking sector is subject to the European Union regulations, including the following EU Directives and Regulations: • Directive No 2008/48/EC of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and Directive No 2023/2225 of 18 October 2023 applicable from 20 November 2026 repealing Directive No 2008/48/EC; • Directive No 2013/36/EU of 26 June 2013 on the prudential supervision of credit insti - tutions and investment firms (the “Capital Requirements Directive” – CRD) and Direc - tive No 2024/1619 of 31 May 2024 amending CRD (CRD VI) applicable from 11 January 2026; • Regulation No 575/2013 of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institu - tions (the “Capital Requirements Regulation” – CRR) and Regulation No 2024/1623 of 31 May 2024 amending CRR (CRR III) applicable from 1 January 2025; and • Directive No 2014/59/EU of 15 May 2014 on the recovery and resolution of credit institu - tions (the “Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive” – BRRD). Banking Regulators Under French law, the banking sector is super - vised by the ACPR. The ACPR is competent for: • monitoring the application of prudential rules; • maintaining financial stability; • monitoring compliance with rules on anti- money laundering and countering the financ - ing of terrorism (AML/CFT); and • ensuring the protection of credit institutions’ customers.
France benefits from a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework that applies to the banking sector. The main laws and regulations in France that apply to the banking sector are set out in the French Monetary and Financial Code ( Code monétaire et financier ), as well as in the French Civil Code ( Code civil ), the French Commercial Code ( Code de commerce ) and the French Con - sumer Code ( Code de la consommation ). Such legal framework is supplemented by regulators’ guidelines and instructions and French Decrees and Orders ( Arrêtés ) adopted by the French gov - ernment or the French Minister of Economy (as the case may be). The main law which modernised the regulation of the French banking sector was Law No 84-46 of 24 January 1984 on the activity and super - vision of credit institutions. Since then, French banking sector has known many other laws and regulations reinforcing the regulation of actors • Law No 2010-1249 of 22 October 2010 on banking and financial regulation, which insti - tuted the French banking regulator ( Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel , now the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution – ACPR); and • Law No 2013-672 of 26 July 2013 on the sep - aration and regulation of banking activities, which aimed to separate speculative activities from commercial activities that benefit the wider economy. and activities. For instance:
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