AMF

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is France's securities regulator. It works alongside the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution, which handles prudential supervision — so a French investment firm typically answers to the ACPR for capital and to the AMF for conduct and market integrity.

The advertising ban

France acted against retail CFD marketing earlier and harder than the rest of Europe. The Sapin II law of 2016 prohibits electronic advertising of highly speculative financial contracts to retail investors, including CFDs with no fixed maturity or with leverage above a defined threshold, and binary options outright. The ban covers direct electronic solicitation as well as banner and search advertising.

The practical effect is visible: a French retail trader encounters far less aggressive marketing than a trader in most EU states, and brokers reach French clients through content and comparison rather than through paid acquisition. It also means a French-language advertisement promising high-leverage forex is itself evidence that the advertiser is unauthorised.

What the authorisation requires

Investment firms are authorised under the Monetary and Financial Code implementing MiFID. Capital follows the Investment Firms Regulation. The AMF's General Regulation adds conduct requirements on marketing communications, client categorisation, best execution and complaint handling, and firms must document how they meet them.

Leverage and retail protections

ESMA product intervention applies: 30:1 on majors, 20:1 on non-majors, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities, 5:1 on shares, 2:1 on crypto, with margin close-out at 50% and negative balance protection per account. Risk warnings must state the percentage of retail accounts losing money.

If a broker fails

The Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts et de Résolution operates the investor compensation scheme covering securities held by a failed French investment firm, up to a statutory ceiling per client, alongside separate cover for cash deposits.

Verifying an authorisation

The AMF and ACPR maintain the REGAFI register of authorised firms, and the AMF publishes an extensive blacklist of unauthorised websites offering forex, CFDs and crypto to French residents. That blacklist is one of the most actively maintained in Europe and is worth checking directly — ProForexBrokers.com treats an AMF blacklist entry as disqualifying regardless of any licence a brand holds elsewhere.

Who an AMF broker suits

French authorisation suits residents who want French-language documentation, a domestic complaints route through the AMF Ombudsman, and the quietest marketing environment in the EU. Leverage is capped, and the strictness that makes the market calm also makes it narrow.