1. In the banking and financial sectors

In France, the ACPR is the competent authority that grants authorization for credit institutions — legal entities that carry out banking operations as their regular business (reception of repayable funds from the public, credit operations and payment banking services). However, if the credit institution is significant according to the European Union regulation, the ECB is the competent authority. Broadly, an entity must ask the ACPR for a specific license depending on its activity, as follows:

• Bank – Allall banking operations
• Mutual or cooperative bank – Allall banking operations
• Municipal credit bank – reception of funds from the public, provision of means of payment, loans secured by pledges, and if the authorization allows, other types of credit to individuals, local public establishments and associations
• Financing company – Maymay only carry out credit operations resulting from their authorization or from specific legislative or regulatory provisions, but may not receive deposits from the public repayable on demand
• Specialized financing institution – Creditcredit institutions to which the state has entrusted a permanent public interest mission.

The ACPR is also competent to grant authorization to payment institutions that operate the following activities:

• Services enabling cash to be placed on a payment account as well as all the operations required for operating a payment account
• Services enabling cash withdrawals from a payment account as well as all the operations required for operating a payment account
• Execution of payment transactions, including transfers of funds on a payment account with the user’s payment service provider or with another payment service provider
• Execution of payment transactions where the funds are covered by a credit line for a payment service user
• Issuing and/or acquiring of payment instruments
• Money remittance
• Payment initiation services
• Account information services.

The ACPR is the French authority competent to grant authorization to electronic money institutions, which are legal entities that issue electronic money and provide payment services.

The ACPR and the AMF are jointly responsible for delivering authorization to investment firms (excluding portfolio management companies), which are legal entities other than a credit institution providing investment services as a regular business. This category covers the following activities:

• Receiving and transmitting orders for third parties
• Executing orders for third parties
• Trading for own account
• Portfolio management for third parties
• Financial investment advice
• Underwriting
• Placing of financial instruments with or without a firm commitment basis
• Operation of multilateral trading facilities.

The AMF authorizes and monitors asset management companies. These are companies whose main activity is discretionary portfolio management or exercising a collective management activity.

• Portfolio management for third parties (or discretionary management) consists of managing individual portfolios of financial instruments on behalf of clients, whether retail or institutional investors.
• Collective management or management of collective investments (particularly UCITS or AIFs) broadly consists of managing collective portfolios. A collective investment scheme comprises sums pooled by investors and managed on their behalf by a portfolio manager. The latter manages the sums raised in accordance with an investment policy, investing these in assets,  such as financial investments (shares or bonds). Shares or units are issued, representing a portion of the assets pooled together, in return for the sums paid into the collective investment.

Finally, certain activities also need to be registered. For instance, the intermediaries in banking transactions and payment services or payment service providers should be registered and respect the proper regulation.

The same holds true for crowdfunding platforms in lending or financial instruments. They need to register as a crowdfunding intermediary and comply with all relevant rules.

Since 2019, some digital asset service providers must also mandatorily register with the AMF. This is the case for custodian wallet providers, crypto-fiat or crypto-crypto exchange service providers and operators of trading platforms. These intermediaries as well as some further intermediaries on crypto assetscrypto-assets can further opt for a voluntary license, which enables them to directly solicit customers and grants them an almost certain access to a bank account.

2. In the insurance sector

The ACPR (as the French supervisory authority) is responsible for granting insurance licenses to insurance and reinsurance companies that have their head office in France to carry on insurance or reinsurance business ("home country control" principle).

Insurance intermediaries with head office in France are also regulated, and while they fall under the ultimate control of the ACPR, they register with a different body, i.e., ORIAS, which will be in charge for verifying that the insurance intermediary satisfies the conditions for such registration.