The member appointed as rapporteur   presents his/her report (Article R. 612-48 I of the Monetary and Financial Code).

The Head of the Treasury and, where appropriate, the Social Security Director (or their representatives) may submit comments.

The College member appointed by the session who decided to initiate the disciplinary procedure is summoned to the hearing but does not participate in the deliberations. He/she may be assisted or represented by the staff of the ACPR, submit observations in support of the notified complaints and propose a sanction (Articles L. 612-38 and R. 612-48 of the Monetary and Financial Code).

The person under investigation and, if necessary, his/her counsel present his/her case (Article R. 612-48 of the Monetary and Financial Code). In any case, the person under investigation and, if necessary, his/her counsel must be able to speak last.


The Sanctions Committee may not proceed with a meeting unless the majority of its members are present. Its meetings must be held in private and may not be attended by the parties to the dispute, the rapporteur, the Head of the Treasury or, when involved, the Social Security Director (or their representatives), the College member or the ACPR staff responsible for assisting or representing the College member (Article R. 612-48 II of the Monetary and Financial Code).

The person under investigation may request that the hearing be held in camera. The Chairman of the Sanctions Committee may deny the public access to the room during all or part of the hearing in the interests of morality, public order, national security or when needed for the protection of business secrets or any other secret protected by law. The Chairman of the Sanctions Committee is responsible for the administration of the hearing and may call upon any person whom he deems useful to hear (Article R. 612-47 of the Monetary and Financial Code).

The meeting secretary draws up the minutes of the hearing, which are signed by the Chairman of the Sanctions Committee, the rapporteur and the meeting secretary and communicated to all Committee members and those summoned to the hearing (Article R. 612-49 of the Monetary and Financial Code).

The decision, signed by the Chairman of the Sanctions Committee, states the names of the Committee members who have deliberated. It is notified to the person under investigation and communicated to the Head of the Treasury and, where appropriate, the Social Security Director and the Chairman of the ACPR who reports to the College (Article R. 612-50 of the Monetary and Financial Code).

Articles L. 612-39, L. 612-40, L. 612-41 and L. 612-42 of the Monetary and Financial Code

The sanctions risked by the reporting entity include a warning, a reprimand, a prohibition from conducting certain operations for a maximum period of ten years and any other restrictions on the conduct of its activity, the temporary suspension of senior managers for a maximum period of ten years, the compulsory resignation of senior managers, the partial or total withdrawal of the license or authorisation and being struck off the list of authorised entities. Instead of, or in addition to these sanctions, a financial penalty of up to EUR 100 million (EUR 1 million for bureaux de change) may also be handed out.

In addition, Article L. 612-40 of the Monetary and Financial Code holds that in the event of non-compliance with Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms, the penalties incurred by legal entities amount to 10% of turnover or twice the benefits derived from the breach when it can be assessed and a maximum amount of EUR 5 million for the responsible leaders.

The decisions taken by the Sanctions Committee are published in the official register of the ACPR and may be made public in any publications, newspapers or media it may wish to use, and in a format that corresponds to the violation committed and the sanction imposed. The costs of any such notices are borne by the entity sanctioned. However, the Committee’s decision may provide for its publication without specifying names in certain exceptional cases where there could be a “risk of seriously disrupting financial markets or of causing a disproportionate prejudice to the parties involved”.