French Monetary and Financial Code
In forceI. - Any failure by the persons referred to in 12°, 13°, 14°, 18° and 19° of Article L. 561-2 to comply with the obligations laid down in Sections 3 to 6 of this Chapter, in Chapter II of this Title, and in the directly applicable European provisions on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, including those of the European regulations on restrictive measures adopted pursuant to Articles 75 or 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as well as those adopted pursuant to the same Article 215 for other purposes, may give rise to the following measures and penalties:
1° An injunction ordering one of these persons to put an end to the behaviour in question and prohibiting it from being repeated;
2° A temporary ban on exercising managerial responsibilities within one of these persons;
3° A fine not exceeding one million euros. Where the benefit derived from the breach can be determined, this penalty may not exceed twice the amount of such benefit.
In the event of a breach by a person referred to in the first paragraph of all or part of the obligations incumbent upon him under this Title, the competent authority may also impose penalties on the directors of that person and on other natural persons employed by, acting on behalf of or acting for that person, on account of their personal involvement in the breaches in question.
II. - The amount and type of the sanction imposed in the event of a breach of the provisions of sections 3 to 6 of this chapter by the persons mentioned in the first paragraph of I are set taking into account, in particular:
1° the seriousness and duration of the breaches ;
2° the degree of responsibility of the offender, his financial situation, the size of the gains he has made or the losses he has avoided, his degree of cooperation during the inspection and the procedure, and any previous breaches he has committed;
3° If they can be determined, the damage suffered by third parties as a result of the breaches.
III. - Under the conditions laid down by a decree of the Conseil d'Etat, the decision of the sanctioning authority, any appeal against this decision, the outcome of the appeal, as well as the decision to cancel a sanction previously imposed, are made public in the publications, newspapers or media designated by this authority in a format proportionate to the misconduct committed and the sanction imposed. The costs shall be borne by the persons sanctioned.
However, the decisions mentioned above are published anonymously in the following cases:
1° When publication in a non-anonymous form would compromise an ongoing criminal investigation ;
2° When objective and verifiable evidence provided by the person sanctioned shows that the prejudice that would result from publication in a non-anonymous form would be disproportionate.
Where the situations referred to in 1° and 2° are likely to cease to exist within a short period, the sanctioning authority may defer publication for that period.
The sanctioning authority may charge the sanctioned person for all or part of the costs incurred by the control measures used to establish the facts that gave rise to the sanction.
IV. - The foregoing provisions do not prevent the implementation, as a result of the breaches mentioned in the first paragraph of I, of the special provisions applicable to the persons mentioned in that same paragraph.
