pc
nid 92204
Apr 27, 2026
tojuri@vixio.com
France
Autorité des Marchés Financiers
financial services
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2145 charsFrance's Financial Markets Authority Emphasises Information Quality for Retail Investors in Digital Services
On 24 April 2026, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) published findings from its SPOT (Operational and Thematic Supervision of Practices) inspections examining the digital client journey at four investment services providers in France. The inspections, conducted between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2025, assessed how institutions present information to retail investors across websites, applications, and branches—from initial account opening through order placement.
The AMF identified significant variations in digital service offerings across the institutions inspected. Only one of the four providers offers a fully online investment journey; the others restrict certain functions to branch-based interactions, such as opening securities accounts or equity savings plans (PEA). The regulator identified four key areas requiring improvement: comprehensive and accessible information presentation; robustness of client questionnaires used to assess investor profiles; effectiveness of warnings regarding unsuitable products; and internal control systems tailored to digital environments.
The AMF noted that some providers present incomplete or unclear information about services offered online, and that questionnaire systems for assessing investor suitability vary considerably in quality. In certain cases, clients can frequently modify questionnaire responses without adequate supervision, weakening investor protection. Warning messages about inappropriate products are sometimes ambiguous, potentially undermining client understanding. The AMF emphasised that internal controls remain insufficiently adapted to the specific risks of digital client journeys, particularly given the autonomy afforded to online investors.
The AMF has made digitised investment journeys a supervisory priority for 2025, stressing that information quality must remain consistent regardless of delivery channel—whether through websites, applications, or in-branch advisors. The regulator encourages investment services providers to strengthen their digital practices to ensure adequate investor protection in an increasingly digital savings landscape.
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3025 charsFrench Financial Markets Authority Publishes Summary of Thematic Review of the Quality of Information for Retail Investors in Digital Services
On April 24, 2026, the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) published a summary of its Operational and Thematic Supervision of Practices (SPOT) inspections, which examined the digital client journey at four investment services providers in France.
Conducted between January 1, 2023 and May 31, 2025, the inspections assessed how institutions present information to retail investors across websites, applications and branches — from initial account opening through to order placement. The summary outlines the findings of the inspections, the good and poor practices observed, and the regulatory framework on which the AMF based the inspections.
The investigation focused on areas such as:
The procedures for gathering information required when entering into a relationship.
The administration of the client questionnaire under MiFIR ( Regulation (EU) 600/2014 ), used to better understand investors.
The impact of systems on investor profiling and client protection.
During its inspections, the AMF identified several areas of weakness and encourages investment firms wishing to develop their online or app-based investment services to be vigilant in four areas:
Providing comprehensive, easy-to-read information to clients - the AMF found that some essential information, such as the nature of the services offered online, was presented in an incomplete or difficult-to-understand manner.
Strengthening the robustness of client questionnaires - the AMF found that systems used to assess investor profiles varied considerably, with certain information-gathering practices limiting the reliability of the process for assessing the suitability of envisaged financial products for investors' profiles.
Improving the effectiveness of warnings - the AMF found that warning messages about inappropriate products are sometimes ambiguous.
Adapting control systems - the AMF found that, at the institutions inspected, internal controls remain insufficiently attuned to the specific features of digital client journeys, despite the fact that the autonomy enjoyed by online clients is a major risk.
Among the good practices, the AMF identified:
Having a client questionnaire composed of questions relating to specific financial instruments rather than a general category of financial instruments.
Setting an expiry date for questionnaires and requiring customers to update them as part of the order reception and transmission process.
Producing statistics on the completion and updating of online questionnaires.
Demonstrating digital journeys within certain governance structures.
Conversely, the AMF identified poor practices, such as:
Having a client questionnaire with a small number of questions relating to complex financial instruments and insufficient granularity when distributing these instruments.
Having a client questionnaire to which clients mainly have to answer "yes" or "no".
Allowing clients to update their questionnaire as often as they like, without waiting a minimum period between updates.