AMF Speeches

Key dates

January 28, 2022

- Constitutional Council decision declaring dual prosecution unconstitutional

Current status (as of January 2026)

- Amendments appear to be in legislative proposal stage; no effective date yet announced

No specific implementation deadline stated Deadline

- AMF committed to proposing amendments "as soon as possible"

Suggested considerations

• *For compliance professionals and regulated entities:
• *Review cooperation policies: Ensure internal procedures for responding to AMF investigation and inspection requests comply with current legal requirements and anticipated amendments.
• *Monitor legislative developments: Track publication of proposed amendments in the French legislative process to understand final scope of changes.
• *Counsel on cooperation: Advise business units that obstruction remains sanctionable; the amendment eliminates dual penalties, not the underlying obligation to cooperate.
• *Document compliance: Maintain records demonstrating good-faith cooperation with AMF requests to support defense against obstruction allegations.

What changed

• The primary regulatory change addresses a constitutional violation regarding dual prosecution under the ne bis in idem principle:
• Current problem: The Monetary and Financial Code previously allowed both administrative sanctions by the AMF Enforcement Committee and criminal prosecution for identical obstruction conduct,...
• Proposed solution: Legislative amendments will eliminate the possibility of dual prosecution while maintaining the AMF's ability to sanction obstruction of investigations and inspections.
• Scope of obstruction conduct: The law covers refusal to allow access to documents, provide copies, communicate information, respond to summons, or grant access to professional premises during AMF...