The Banking Commission, a collegial body consisting of seven members and chaired by the Governor of the Banque de France (the French Central Bank) has been given a wide range of investigatory and enforcement powers to ensure that credit institutions and investment firms ( 1 ) observe the applicable laws and regulations. The Banking Commission has the power to impose administrative penalties or financial sanctions to offenders (article L613-1, Monetary and financial code)
The Commission’s mission is to protect depositors as well as to act as watchdog over the French banking and financial system to ensure its profitability and financial stability.
The General Secretariat, and staff, (known by the acronym SGCB) carry out the Commission’s decisions and also conduct the day-to-day work of supervising credit institutions and investment firms both on and off-site to ensure they are operating in a safe and sound manner. The SGCB also is in charge of enforcing the French anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism rules.
The SGCB takes an active role, both in France and at the international level for the drafting of new and more sophisticated prudential rules as well as participating in discussions as to how to ensure financial stability. Thanks to years of international cooperation in fora like the Basle committee and, more recently, the Committee of European banking supervisors , harmonized rules and prudential ratios have been forged to regulate financial companies.
The SGCB cooperates closely with the other banking authorities such as the Comité des Etablissements de Crédit et des Entreprises d’Investissement (Credit institutions and investment firms committee), in charge of the licensing and changes of control in banks and investment firms, the Autorité de contrôle des assurances et des mutuelles (in charge of the supervision of insurance companies),of which, one member is the President of the Banking Commission, and the Autorité des marchés financiers (in charge of financial market regulation and surveillance).
Credit institutions and investment firms |
Unit trusts and mutual funds |
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