Supervising institutions

Supervised entities

The ACPR supervises banking institutions and insurance organisations.

In the banking, investment services and payment services sectors, supervision falls within the remit of the ACPR and/or that of the European Central Bank (ECB) within the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM).

Ongoing supervision and on-site inspections

To carry out its supervisory tasks, the ACPR implements two kinds of inspections in the banking and insurance sectors:

“Off-site” inspections

Ongoing supervision, which is also referred to as “off-site” inspection, relies on the analysis of the prudential and accounting statements that institutions are required to send to the ACPR, in respect of their capital ratios, non-performing loan ratios, etc. It also involves stress tests, resilience exercises that replicate extreme, yet plausible adverse economic and financial conditions.

“On-site” inspections

“On-site inspections” are in-depth investigations that are either focused on a specific topic, or carried as part of a comprehensive assessment of the situation of the inspected institution.

The Single Supervisory Mechanism

Since 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB) has been tasked with either directly or indirectly supervising banking institutions within the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). The ACPR cooperates with the ECB in this regard. Exercising supervision at European level serves the purpose of safeguarding financial stability in the euro area. Another role of this oversight function is to ensure that none of the major euro area banks go bankrupt or need to be bailed out with taxpayers’ money, as happened in 2008 and 2009.

Direct supervision

Direct supervision involves all institutions referred to as “significant” institutions (SIs). Direct ECB supervision is carried out by joint supervisory teams (JSTs) gathering staff from the ECB, the ACPR and other national competent authorities that have jurisdiction over the territory in which the supervised bank concerned operates.

Did you know? 11 “significant” institutions in France account for 86% of total assets in the French banking sector

Indirect supervision

Indirect supervision involves all institutions referred to as “Less Significant Institutions” (LSIs), and responsibility over this function lies first and foremost with national competent authorities: in France, the national competent authority is the ACPR.