Date: 23rd January 2023
Author: BETTER FINANCE

Faced with the risk of "regulatory capture", six civil society co-signatories representing “small” savers and “minority” investors call on the President of the French Republic to reconsider the governance of the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF)

The representatives of “l'Association Éthique et Investissement”, FAIR, Deontofi, RéseauCEP, “l’Association pour le Patrimoine et l'Actionnariat Individuel” and the “Fédération européenne de l’actionnariat salarié” denounce the over-representation of large banks and companies on the AMF Board and Enforcement Committee to the detriment of investors and their legitimate interests.

The recent appointment of the new chairwoman of the AMF led to the resignation of the (only) representative of the "civil society of savers" in the governance of the AMF, Mr. Thierry Philipponnat, who declared that “the conditions are now no longer in place for the AMF to function effectively as an independent administrative authority”.

Besides calling for the impartial review, at the very least, of the nominations for the AMF Board and its Enforcement Committee, the cosignatories demand that “small” savers and “minority” investors be given a voice and stress that this is a prerequisite for any real independence of the regulatory authority.

Whereas such an imbalance can, to a different extent, be found in more or less all countries, the situation seems particularly acute in France.

  • Read the letter (in French) here.