TITLE: France's Financial Markets Authority Publishes Findings on Investment Advisors' Consideration of Client Sustainability Preferences
BODY:
On 26 February 2026, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), France's independent financial regulator, published the findings of its "SPOT" (Operational and Thematic Supervision of Practices) inspections examining how investment services providers consider clients' sustainability preferences in their advisory processes.
Between April and July 2024, the AMF conducted inspections at five investment services providers covering all stages of investment advice delivery, from Know Your Customer questionnaires to suitability statements. The inspections assessed compliance with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) framework, which has required investment advisors since August 2022 to consider clients' sustainability preferences—non-financial criteria relating to environmental, social and governance considerations—throughout the advisory process.
The AMF identified significant compliance shortcomings, revealing discrepancies in operational implementation of regulatory obligations. While some institutions demonstrated willingness to expand their financial instrument offerings to include sustainable products, the inspections highlighted the complexity of regulatory requirements and technical difficulties in implementation, particularly regarding sustainability preference definitions, non-financial data availability, and adaptation of internal systems.
The AMF identified good practices including mandatory advisor training on sustainable savings, pedagogical explanations within questionnaires, categorisation of principal adverse impacts, and cumulative approaches to sustainability criteria. Poor practices included absence of final training assessments, failure to explain how qualitative thresholds translate into minimum portfolio percentages, and insufficient specification of sustainability criteria for clients with unspecified preferences.
The AMF encourages investment services providers to intensify corrective measures and compliance efforts. This initiative aligns with the AMF's "Impact 2027" strategic orientations promoting sustainable finance and investor protection, and reflects supervisory measures defined by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
REFERENCES:
https://www.amf-france.org/en/news-publications/news/amf-publishes-findings-its-inspections-consideration-client-sustainability-preferences