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European passports

Free establishment or freedom to provide services in another Member State of the EU or party to the EEA Agreement

You are approved in France as a credit institution (CI), investment firm (IF), electronic money institution (EMI) or payment institution (PI) with its registered office in France. Pursuant to the principle of mutual recognition of licences, you are authorised to do business in the territory of one or more Member States of the European Union (EU) or of States party to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement other than France, provided that the necessary formalities are completed and the ACPR has informed the competent authority of the Host State.

If you are a financial institution, and particularly a finance company, with its registered office in France, you may be covered by a European passport if the following requirements are satisfied:

  1. The financial institution is a subsidiary of one or more CIs licensed in France and holding at least 90% of the voting rights attached to its shares or ownership units;
  2. The parent company or parent companies provide evidence of the prudent management of the financial institution and declare themselves, with the ACPR’s agreement, to jointly guarantee the commitments taken on by the financial institution;
  3. The financial institution effectively provides banking services of the same nature within the territory of the French Republic and is included, notably as regards these activities, in the consolidated supervision to which its parent company is subject, or to which each of its parent companies is subject.

Your institution may do business in another EU Member State or in another State party to the EEA agreement under the following procedures:

  • freedom of establishment:
    • by opening a branch in the affected State;
    • by using a tied agent established in the affected State to provide investment services there, or by using an agent established in the affected State to provide payment services there, or by using a electronic money distributor established in the affected State;
  • freedom to provide services (FPS);
  • establishment of a subsidiary in the affected State: an application for the requisite licence must then be made to the competent authority of the affected State.
Freedom of establishment or freedom to provide services in another EU Member State or in another State party to the EEA agreement

Procedure under the freedom of establishment or the freedom to provide services

Before pursuing activities in France under the freedom of establishment or the freedom to provide services, you must:

1. Prepare a package for a notification under the freedom of establishment or a declaration under the freedom to provide services

The form must be uploaded in a .doc or .docx format.

 Notification under freedom of establishmentDeclaration under freedom to provide service
Credit institution
Investment firm formform
Payment institutionformform

Electronic money institution
formform
Use of an electronic money distributorform 
Use of a payment services agentform 

 

 

2. Post the completed package on the Authorisation Portal : https://acpr-autorisations.banque-france.fr/

The form must be uploaded in a .doc or .docx format.

Reviewing the package

The ACPR assesses the completeness, accuracy and consistency of the package and may request additional information to complete its review.
The ACPR or, where applicable, the ECB will examine the package and decide whether to forward it to the competent authority of the Host State.
You will receive a letter informing you of this decision. If a favourable decision is granted, the notification package will also be sent to the competent authority of the Host State.

Changes to information provided in connection with a notification under the freedom of establishment or declaration under the freedom to provide services

If changes are made to the information provided in connection with a notification under the freedom of establishment or a declaration under the freedom to provide services, you must provide notification of these changes to the ACPR, and, where applicable, to the competent authority of the Host State at least one month before making the change.

Appointment of a senior manager to a European branch

If you wish to establish a branch in another EU Member State or in another State party to the EEA agreement, you must send the ACPR the names of at least two senior managers who will be in charge of running the branch along with details on their professional experience. Please include the following documents:

  • signed letter of appointment specifying the date on which the senior manager is to take up his/her position;
  • a fitness statement.
  • a current, dated CV in French, which should give the senior manager’s address, date and place of birth and nationality.

The ACPR must be informed of any subsequent change of senior manager according to the same procedure.

Use of an agent, tied agent or distributor

An investment firm may wish to use a tied agent located in another European country.

A payment institution or an electronic money institution may use one or more agents located in another European country.

An electronic money institution may decide to use one or more distributors located in another European country.

An agent is a natural person or a legal entity that provides payment services in the name of one or more payment institutions. The institution giving the appointment remains fully liable towards third parties for the actions of any agent appointed by it. The agent is required to inform service users of its status as agent from their first entry into contact.

In this case you must send a hardcopy notification to the ACPR. Following a review, the ACPR will decide to register or refuse to register the agent. The institution will receive a letter informing it of the decision taken by the ACPR. At the same time, the ACPR will send the notification package to the supervisory authority in the Host Country. Use of an agent is conducted under the freedom of establishment regime.

The ACPR must be informed of any removal of an agent or discontinuation of use of a distributor or tied agent.

 

 

Freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services in France
  • If you wish to establish a branch in France, use a tied agent, agent or distributor established in France or pursue an activity under the freedom to provide services in France, you must contact the competent authority of your Home State to complete the necessary formalities.
  • If you wish to make changes to the pursuit of your activities in France under the freedom of establishment or the freedom to provide services (change activities, terms of intervention, etc.), you must also contact the competent authority of your Home State to complete the necessary formalities.
  • To use an agent, tied agent or distributor: you must also contact the competent authority of your Home State to complete the necessary formalities.

All of these procedures are free of charge.

For information about European passports, you can write to the following address: passport.notifications@banque-france.fr
Accepted languages : French, English.

Link to EEA competent authorities

Updated on: 06/02/2022 10:17