French Monetary and Financial Code
In forceI.- Central securities depositories, within the meaning of 1.1 of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on improving securities settlement in the European Union and on central securities depositories, and amending Directives 98/26/EC and 2014/65/EU and Regulation (EU) No 236/2012, are:
1° Central securities depositories authorised by the Autorité des marchés financiers;
2° Central securities depositories authorised to provide in France, through a branch, the services referred to in Article 23(2) of that Regulation, and central securities depositories of third countries authorised to provide in France, through a branch, the services referred to in Article 25(2) of that Regulation;
3° Central securities depositories authorised to provide in France, under the freedom to provide services, the services mentioned in Article 23(2) of the same Regulation, and central securities depositories of third countries authorised to provide in France, under the freedom to provide services, the services mentioned in Article 25(2) of the same Regulation.
II - The central depositories mentioned in 1° of I are approved by the Autorité des marchés financiers, after consultation with the Banque de France.
The Banque de France shall be consulted on any changes to the constituent elements of their authorisation that are subject to the prior authorisation of the Autorité des marchés financiers pursuant to the aforementioned regulation.
When the Autorité des marchés financiers receives an application for authorisation relating to a project to outsource a service to a third party or to extend an activity, as referred to in Article 19 of the aforementioned Regulation, it consults the Banque de France.
III. - The operating rules of the central depositories mentioned in 1° of I and of the settlement and delivery systems for financial instruments that they manage are approved by the Autorité des marchés financiers.
These rules are drawn up in French or, in the cases defined by the general regulations of the Autorité des marchés financiers, in another language customary in financial matters.
IV. - Legal entities applying for authorisation as central depositories referred to in 1° of I and simultaneously applying for specific authorisation to operate a "DLT settlement system" or a "DLT trading and settlement system", under Articles 9 and 10 respectively of Regulation (EU) No 2022/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 on a pilot scheme for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology and amending Regulations (EU) No 600/2014 and (EU) No 909/2014 and Directive 2014/65/EU, shall be authorised under the conditions set out in II of this Article.
Specific authorisations applied for within the framework set out in this IV as well as those applied for by central depositories mentioned in I and the related exemptions under Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EU) No 2022/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 mentioned above shall be granted by the Autorité des marchés financiers, after consulting the Banque de France.
The Autorité des marchés financiers is responsible for supervising the application of exemptions granted under the same regulation and for supervising the application of the said regulation by central depositories that have obtained a specific authorisation. It shall consult the Banque de France before taking any measures under Articles 9, 10 or 11 or other Articles of the same Regulation. The Autorité des marchés financiers shall cooperate with the competent authorities of the various Member States and with the European Securities and Markets Authority under the conditions laid down in the same regulation.
A decree shall specify the terms of application of this IV.
