French Monetary and Financial Code
In forceI. - The banking and payment services intermediaries referred to in Article L. 519-1 comprise the following categories:
1° Brokers in banking transactions and payment services, registered in the Trade and Companies Register for the activity of brokerage in banking transactions and payment services, who carry out intermediation under a mandate from the customer, to the exclusion of any mandate from a credit institution, a finance company, a payment institution, an electronic money institution that provides payment services, a participative finance intermediary, an insurance undertaking in the context of its lending activities or a management company in the context of its AIF management activities referred to in Article L. 511-6, and who are not subject to a contractual obligation to work exclusively with a credit institution, a finance company, a payment institution, an electronic money institution that provides payment services, a participative finance intermediary, an insurance company in the context of its lending activities or a management company in the context of its AIF management activities mentioned in Article L. 511-6.
2° Exclusive banking and payment services agents who act as intermediaries under a mandate from a credit institution, a finance company, a payment institution, an electronic money institution that provides payment services, a participative finance intermediary, an insurance company in the context of its lending activities or a management company in the context of its AIF management activities referred to in Article L. 511-6 and who are subject to a contractual obligation to work exclusively with one of these undertakings for a given category of banking transactions or payment services;
3° Banking and payment services agents who act as intermediaries under one or more non-exclusive mandates issued by one or more credit institutions, finance companies, payment institutions, electronic money institutions that provide payment services, participative finance intermediaries, insurance companies in connection with their lending activities or management companies in connection with their FIA management activities referred to in Article L. 511-6 ;
4° Agents of intermediaries in banking transactions and payment services, who carry out intermediation pursuant to mandates from the persons mentioned in 1°, 2° or 3° as well as the persons mentioned in III operating under the freedom to provide services and the freedom of establishment on French territory.
II. - A single person may not carry on the business of intermediary in banking transactions and payment services under more than one of the categories mentioned in I of this article unless it is for the performance or provision of banking transactions of a different nature or the provision of payment services.
The banking transactions referred to in the previous paragraph are consumer credit, debt consolidation, home loans and reverse mortgages.
III. - Intermediaries registered on the register of another Member State of the European Union or another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area for the purpose of intermediating in property credit agreements within the meaning of Article L. 313-1 of the Consumer Code are also intermediaries in banking transactions and payment services.
The intermediaries mentioned in the previous paragraph who are not bound by a mandate to a credit institution or finance company are considered to be the intermediaries mentioned in 1° of I of this article for the application of the provisions of this code.
IV. - The intermediaries referred to in 4° of I may not benefit from the provisions of article L. 519-8 in order to carry out the activity of intermediary for a mortgage loan agreement within the meaning of article L. 313-1 of the French Consumer Code.
