The AMF Enforcement Committee fines a financial investment advisor, two asset management companies and their directors, and a credit institution a total of €5,670,000
Executive Summary
The AMF Enforcement Committee imposed total fines of €5,670,000 on a financial investment advisor (FIA), two asset management companies (AMCs), their directors, and a credit institution for breaches of professional obligations. This enforcement action underscores the AMF's rigorous scrutiny of operational controls, due diligence, and governance in investment services, serving as a critical reminder for firms to maintain robust procedures to avoid similar sanctions. It matters because it highlights personal liability for directors and escalating fines for systemic failures, potentially influencing peer reviews and audit priorities. #
What Changed
This is an enforcement decision, not a regulatory change introducing new rules. It reinforces existing AMF requirements under professional obligations, including: - Implementation of operational procedures for investment/divestment processes, such as verifying lender authorizations. - Systematic anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) due diligence on fund assets and liabilities. - Justification of retrocessions (rebates) to distributors, proving enhanced client service quality. - Honest, fair, and diligent business conduct with requisite skill and care, extending to marketing materials and advisory services. No new requirements; emphasis on enforcement of MiFID II-aligned duties and French Monetary and Financial Code (CMF) articles on portfolio management and ad
What You Need To Do
- Conduct gap analysis of operational procedures for investments/divestments, ensuring lender authorization checks (reference AMF Position-Recommendation DOC-2020-05 on portfolio management)
- Review AML/CTF due diligence frameworks for fund assets/liabilities, aligning with AMF Regulation 2016-01
- Audit retrocession practices to distributors, documenting service quality enhancements (per AMF doctrine on inducements)
- Update marketing materials and advisory processes for compliance with honesty/fairness standards
- Enhance senior manager attestations and training on personal liability under CMF L
- Perform mock AMF inspections, focusing on governance attribution of breaches to directors
Key Dates
Compliance Impact
Urgency: High – This signals intensified AMF enforcement on professional obligations in 2025 (multiple similar fines: €1.3M, €1.89M, €0.5M, €2.5M implied, €0.305M, €3.5M), with personal bans and multimillion fines. Matters due to director accountability trends, potential for follow-on audits, and educational role of Enforcement Committee decisions in clarifying regulations—non-compliance risks rep
Who is Affected
Summary
Sanctions & settlements professional obligations Journalists Investment management companies The AMF Enforcement Committee fines a financial investment advisor, two asset management companies and their directors, and a credit institution a total of €5,670,000