Help and FAQs

Frequently asked questions and help

Rating

A credit rating is an assessment by the Banque de France of a company's ability to meet its financial commitments over a one- to three-year period. The Banque de France rating system is recognised by the European Central Bank and the European Banking Authority.

Your company's listing is confidential and is governed by the French Monetary and Financial Code, which strictly defines the potential recipients (article L. 144-1). 

As the person legally responsible for the listed company, it is provided to you systematically and free of charge. You can obtain a copy from the Banque de France's regional offices and ask for an explanation of the reasons for its allocation during a personal interview.
Those involved in financing the economy can also access the Banque de France's rating by joining the I-FIBEN (Fichier Bancaire des Entreprises) service. However, members may not, under any circumstances, disseminate the information brought to their attention outside their institution.
 

Oui, vous y êtes obligé. Le paiement en espèces est toutefois plafonné à 1 000 euros lorsque votre client est domicilié fiscalement en France. Ce plafond est porté à 15 000 euros pour vos clients étrangers (touristes).
Pour un montant supérieur à 1 000 euros, vous devez refuser les espèces et demander un paiement par carte bancaire ou par chèque.


Vous pouvez toutefois exiger :

  • que le client fasse l’appoint, si vous n’avez plus de monnaie,
  • que les pièces et billets soient en bon état.

Vous pouvez refuser un paiement comportant plus de 50 pièces. Vous n’avez pas l’obligation d’accepter des devises autres que l’euro et vous pouvez également refuser des pièces ou un billet qui vous paraissent manifestement faux. Attention toutefois : un simple doute quant à l’authenticité du billet ou de la pièce ne vous permet pas de refuser les espèces mais vous pouvez relever l’identité du client pour le cas où la pièce ou le billet s’avérerait effectivement faux. Vous êtes également tenu de prévenir immédiatement la police.


Enfin, si vous travaillez de nuit dans un commerce, pour votre sécurité, il est accepté de refuser les espèces.


À noter : vous ne pouvez pas refuser un billet ayant cours légal. N’affichez donc jamais dans votre établissement d’affichette du type « La maison n’accepte pas les billets de 100 euros et plus ».
 

An information memorandum (IM) which includes:

 

  1. A presentation of the issuance programme(s) containing the details required by order of the Minister of the Economy, indicating, where applicable, the rating assigned by an approved rating agency.
  2. A presentation of the issuer’s legal and financial situation.
  3. A letter of guarantee and certification of its compliance for issuers whose issuance programme(s) is (are) guaranteed.
  4. The documents pertaining to the previous two financial years distributed at meetings of the shareholders or of the body acting in such a capacity, notably the annual financial statements and, where applicable, the consolidated financial statements, the reports of the board of directors or of the management board and supervisory board, as applicable, and the reports of the statutory auditors, or of the persons acting in such a capacity, certifying the true and fair nature of the information provided in the accounts. These documents, submitted in digital format, should ideally be incorporated by reference but may also be directly inserted into the IM.
  5. A declaration by either an individual, stating their identity and their role within the company, or by a legal entity, indicating their company name and their place of incorporation, in which they accept responsibility for the IM and certify that, to the best of their knowledge, the information submitted by the issuer is accurate and precise, that no information has been omitted such that the significance of the information may be altered, and that the documentation does not contain any false or misleading statements.
     

The consolidated accounting data or, if this is not available, the statutory accounting data, drawn up in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or with accounting standards deemed equivalent to IFRS by the European Commission, or with local generally accepted accounting principles in countries of the European Economic Area, or with generally accepted accounting principles in France.

Issuers incorporated outside the European Economic Area must submit accounting data that has been audited in accordance with a public oversight system that is deemed equivalent by the European Commission.

If the issuer is a company that is responsible for cash management within a group, the accounting data must be submitted for the group as a whole based on the consolidated financial statements of the consolidating entity.
 

No. The IM to be submitted to the Banque de France can be written in French or in a language other than French that is customary in the financial sphere, in cases where the securities can only be subscribed to or purchased for an amount equal to at least EUR 200,000 or the equivalent amount in another currency, and on the condition that the issuer inserts a notice in the IM advising the investor, where applicable, to consult a French translation of the documentation, under the conditions laid down by order of the Minister of the Economy.

Prior to its first issue, the issuer must inform the Banque de France of its intention to enter the market, no less than two weeks before the issue date, by submitting the complete IM, prepared in accordance with the provisions set forth in Articles D. 213-9 to D. 213-12 of the Monetary and Financial Code. A longer timeframe may be needed depending on the complexity of the issuance programme (e.g. legal considerations).

  1. The Banque de France ensures that issuers of commercial paper and medium-term notes (NEU CP and NEU MTN) comply with the formal conditions of issuance laid down by law.
  2. It also ensures transparency in the NEU CP-NEU MTN market by publishing issuers’ IMs on its website along with statistics relating to the issued securities (notably daily, weekly and monthly publications) to provide an overview of the market.

According to Article L. 141-8 of the French Monetary and Financial Code, in France this comprises the Treasury, the Institut d'émission des départements d'outre-mer (IEDOM – Delegated Central Bank for the French Overseas Departments and Territories), the Institut d'émission d'outre-mer (IEOM – the Central Bank for the French Overseas Territories in the Pacific Region), the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, and bodies expressly authorised by decisions of the Banque de France’s General Council. For foreign or international entities, see page on the Banque de France's international investment offer.

You are a public institution and wish to open an account with the Banque de France: contact the Banque de France on 34 14 for further information. 

You are already a Banque de France client and wish to obtain information about the cash services provided by the Banque de France: contact your usual account manager.