French Regulator AMF Starts Its Regulatory Moves

The top focus areas of action and supervision priorities for the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) for 2023 have been made public. In a statement posted to its website on Monday, the watchdog revealed the new strategy.

The regulator's top priorities for action are to advance finance geared toward small investors, actively collaborate with ESMA on “supervisory convergence,” create regulatory frameworks to advance sustainable finance and counteract “greenwashing,” and enshrine effective and thorough oversight.

AMF wants to make sure that its financial education is better geared toward retail investors in the first focus area.

The AMF will seek out new channels to increase public awareness of the risk of scams, which is continuing without abatement, and will draw on the lessons learned from its mystery visits and inspection campaigns to encourage distributors to market products that are actually tailored to the various investor profiles.

Additionally, according to AMF, in order to achieve “supervisory convergence,” it will work with the Financial Stability Board and the International Organization of Securities Commissions to improve the liquidity management of investment funds. The regulatory body also plans to assist with the implementation of new laws like the European Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA).

AMF states that it will assist listed companies and asset managers in adhering to important sustainable financial legislation. The regulator further committed to reviewing the initial reports provided by publicly traded companies on their so-called environmentally sustainable economic activities.

AMF also stated that in order to keep up with changes in technology and behaviour, it will guard its enforcement policy and adapt its tools.

AMF's supervisory priorities this year span a number of market participant categories. The regulator stated that it would concentrate on financial management delegations, cybersecurity arrangements, and the implementation of the Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation for investment management firms (SFDR). The regulator intends to focus its attention, among other things, on the quality of post-trade transparency data and cross-border activities for market intermediaries and infrastructures.

The financial markets supervisor also claims that, among other things, it will pay close attention to how marketing is carried out in distribution banking networks, what marketing materials are utilised, and how investor claims are handled.

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