AMF
The AMF, short for Autorité des marchés financiers, is the independent public authority that supervises the French financial markets from Paris. It was set up in 2003 and protects savings invested in financial products, makes sure that investors receive adequate information and watches over the orderly operation of the markets.
The AMF supervises market infrastructures, listed companies, asset management companies, investment firms, financial investment advisers and providers of crypto-asset services. It writes the General Regulation for these firms, authorizes them, inspects them and can bring enforcement cases against them. In Europe the AMF works with the other national supervisors and ESMA on common rules for capital markets and crypto-assets.
Register of regulated entities and white lists
Investors who want to know whether a firm may offer financial services in France search the registers of the AMF. Its white lists name the crypto-asset service providers and crowdfunding service providers authorized in France, together with offers of miscellaneous goods such as wine or forests that the AMF has registered. Each entry shows the category, the date of authorization and the services offered, and the lists can be downloaded as CSV or PDF files.
The AMF points out that a registration is no recommendation to invest and that the crowdfunding list is not updated in real time. For providers authorized in another EU country, the register of ESMA is the second place to check.
Blacklist and warnings
The blacklists of the AMF name companies and websites that offer financial products in France without an authorization, sorted into categories such as crypto-assets, crypto-asset derivatives, forex, binary options and miscellaneous goods from wine to diamonds. A further category lists scammers who pose as regulated firms or as the AMF itself. The AMF adds new names several times a month and warns that the lists can never be complete.
MiCA authorization for crypto-asset service providers
Since 30 December 2024 the EU regulation MiCA has governed crypto-asset services, and in France the AMF is the authority that grants the CASP authorization. MiCA replaced the French regime for digital asset service providers, known as PSAN, which the PACTE law of 22 May 2019 had introduced. Firms registered under that law could keep working during a transitional period that ended on 1 July 2026.
By then France had authorized 31 providers out of 283 in the whole EU, which made it the second most popular seat for crypto-asset service providers in the Union. An authorized provider can use the European passport and serve clients in every EU country. Since 2 July 2026 the AMF also follows, together with ESMA, how firms without an authorization wind down their business.
Upcoming fintech and finance events in France
Chair, board and enforcement committee
Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani chairs the AMF, and the chair is appointed by presidential decree for a single term of five years that cannot be renewed. The board of 16 members adopts the General Regulation, decides on authorizations and approvals and reviews inspection and investigation reports. Sanctions are imposed by a separate enforcement committee of 12 members, made up of judges and professionals.
Secretary General Sébastien Raspiller decides whether investigations and inspections are opened and runs the staff of about 500 employees under the authority of the chair. Six consultative commissions with market participants, experts and investor representatives advise the board on new rules and policy.
Innovation and fintech projects
Innovation is one of the three priorities that the AMF set for 2026, next to the Savings and Investment Union and an attractive, secure and resilient Paris financial center. Fintech founders can present a project and its legal questions to the fintech team of the AMF before they apply for an authorization. In August 2026 the AMF updated its doctrine on advice about crypto-assets given by financial investment advisers.
Address and contact
The AMF has its seat at 17 place de la Bourse in 75082 Paris Cedex 02, in the 2nd arrondissement of the city. Retail investors can turn to the information service AMF Epargne Info Service, and the AMF Ombudsman handles disputes about financial products. Questions about banking, tax and insurance fall outside the remit of the AMF.
AMF and Finance Loop
Banks and asset managers in Germany follow the same MiCA rules for crypto-asset services that the AMF applies in France, while BaFin grants the licenses on the German side. Finance Loop members discuss these licensing, custody and investor protection questions at its events on digital assets.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.