Oversight tasks

The smooth functioning of financial market infrastructures and means of payment is essential to the economy as a whole: it enables the implementation of monetary policy and contributes both to financial stability and to users' confidence in the currency.

As a consequence, the Banque de France has a broad remit with respect to the oversight of financial market infrastructures (payment systems, clearing systems and financial instrument settlement systems) and cashless means of payment.

The Banque de France's oversight mission, which has been entrusted to it by French law and within the framework of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, consists in:

• ensuring the security of cashless means of payment and the relevance of the standards applicable in this area ;
• ensuring the smooth operation and security of payment systems ;
• ensuring the security of financial instrument clearing and settlement systems.