AMF License Verification Full Process Guide

1. What is AMF?

AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers, French Financial Markets Authority) was established in 2003 through the merger of the Securities Commission, the Financial Markets Committee and the Financial Futures Authority. It is the highest regulatory agency in the French capital market and is directly under the jurisdiction of the French Ministry of Finance.

📌 Main Responsibilities

• Regulate securities markets and intermediaries : including foreign exchange/CFD platforms, fund management companies, and investment advisors.

• Protect investors : issue investment warnings and block illegal websites.

• Review information disclosure : Ensure transparency and compliance by listed companies and financial product issuers.

• Cross-border supervisory cooperation : The AMF is a member of ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority).

📌 Legal Basis

• Financial and Monetary Code

• EU MiFID II Directive

• AMF Rules and Regulations

2. Why do you need to check the AMF license?

1. Confirm whether the company is authorized to provide investment services in France ;

2. Identify unlicensed/fake platforms to avoid being scammed;

3. Check the warning list : The AMF regularly names unauthorized forex and crypto websites.

📌 Official website:

• 🔗 AMF Regulated Entities Register

• 🔗 AMF Blacklist / Investor Warnings

3. Quick Verification Process (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Enter the AMF registry

👉 AMF Register

• Searchable by company name/license number/registration type .

Step 2: Confirm the authorization type

• Investment Services Provider (ISP)

• Asset Management Company

• Financial Advisor

• The status must show Authorised .

Step 3: Verify company information

• The name is consistent with the official website;

• The address and contact email address are real and valid;

• This is consistent with the data released by AMF.

Step 4: Check AMF Blacklist (Warnings)

👉 AMF Warnings

• Enter brand name/domain name;

• If it appears on the blacklist → it is an unauthorized company .

Step 5 (optional): EU cross-validation

👉 ESMA Registers

• Check whether the company has an EU MiFID II passport.

4. Practical Cases

✅ Compliance example: BNP Paribas Asset Management France

• Company Name : BNP Paribas Asset Management France

• Status : Authorised

• Business scope : asset management and investment services

• Query : Complete information can be found in the AMF registry

• Official website : 🔗 BNP Paribas AM official website

• Result : Compliant✅

❌ Risk Example: Platforms Blacklisted by the AMF

• Example : Some forex/crypto websites (such as CryptoFXTrade, Trade12 , etc.) have been explicitly named by the AMF.

• Evidence : 🔗 AMF Warnings

• Result : Unauthorized → High Risk ❌

5. Common Misconceptions

1. Mistakenly believing that “EU regulation” equals legality in France → In reality, it must appear on the AMF registry .

2. Ignore the blacklist → The AMF warning list contains hundreds of fake platforms.

3. Only look at the company name, not the domain name → Cloned websites often steal the legitimate company name, but the domain name is not in the AMF database.

6. Investor Recommendations

• Before investing, you must double-check: AMF Registry + Warnings List ;

• Three elements: company name + authorization status + address;

• Once you appear on the blacklist, stay away from it immediately;

• Cross-border platforms should validate their MiFID II passports through the ESMA Registers .

VII. Conclusion

The AMF is the core regulator of the French financial market, with functions on par with those of the FCA, BaFin and CySEC.

• Compliant companies (such as BNP Paribas AM) can be verified in the AMF system;

• Non-compliant companies will appear on a blacklist and be banned from conducting financial business in France.

Investors must verify according to Step 1 – Step 5 to ensure the safety of funds.