France AML Obligations for Accountants: Tracfin and the Code monétaire et financier

In France, accountants (experts-comptables) and statutory auditors (commissaires aux comptes) are subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations under article L.561-2 of the Code monétaire et financier (CMF). The financial intelligence unit is Tracfin, and the accountancy profession's own body, the Ordre des experts-comptables, plays a supervisory role. This guide draws on Tracfin's pages and on joint guidelines issued by Tracfin and the profession's national council, and it is open about what we could not confirm. It is general information, not legal advice, and our reading of the French-language material is ours.

Who is covered and who supervises

Tracfin's page for the accounting professions says that experts-comptables and commissaires aux comptes are covered by article L.561-2 12° of the CMF. The Ordre des experts-comptables supervises accountants under article L.561-36 and ensures the framework is applied by professionals under its control, and the Haut Conseil du Commissariat aux Comptes (H3C) is the supervisory authority for statutory auditors.

Vigilance: identification and the risk-based approach

Tracfin's page on vigilance obligations says that from the start of a business relationship, covered professionals must identify the customer, or occasional customer, and the beneficial owner of the transaction, using information they hold or written supporting documents. It describes three levels of due diligence:

• normal due diligence, with checks on identity and on the purpose and nature of the intended transaction, and keeping customer knowledge up to date during the relationship;
• simplified due diligence where the risk is low, such as certain customers on a list set by decree; and
• enhanced due diligence where the risk is high, for example where the customer is not physically present, is a politically exposed person, or deals with states whose laws or practices hinder anti-money laundering efforts.

Documents gathered for due diligence must be kept for five years, according to the same page, which also describes limited reliance on due diligence carried out by another professional. For the general method, see our guides to KYC and customer due diligence in accountancy practices and to ultimate beneficial ownership.

When to file a suspicion report

Tracfin says accountants must report sums or transactions they know, suspect or have good reason to suspect come from an offence punishable by more than one year's imprisonment, or that contribute to terrorist financing, after a reasoned analysis based on up-to-date knowledge of the client. The joint guidelines from the Conseil supérieur de l'Ordre des experts-comptables and Tracfin add several points:

• Suspicion develops in stages, from trust to doubt to suspicion. A doubt should first be addressed by asking the client for information, and if it cannot be cleared it becomes a suspicion and a report is due.
• Reports must be made in good faith on a documented analysis. Personal motives such as unpaid fees do not count.
• Tax fraud is a separate case: a report is required only if one of the criteria in a 2009 decree is met.
• Legal consultations are exempt from reporting unless they were provided for money laundering purposes or with knowledge of that purpose, but the vigilance duties still apply.

The guidelines require the report in writing, preferably through Tracfin's online application, Ermès, or a fillable form, not by email. The declarant must write the report personally and cannot delegate it. The guidelines ask for the report within a reasonable time once suspicion is formed. The text of the guidelines we read is undated but refers to developments of 2012, so check whether a later version exists. For the practical sequence of spotting, escalating and reporting, see our guide to suspicious activity reports and tipping off, which is UK-focused.

Secrecy, tipping off and protection

Tracfin says neither accountants nor auditors can invoke professional secrecy against it, and that under article L.561-26 I it can request documents that allow it to reconstruct transactions linked to a report. The joint guidelines say the report must not be disclosed to the client or third parties, including employees, and must not be placed in the client file. Limited exceptions allow sharing with the national council as supervisor, between members of the same network under equivalent duties, and with the entity's statutory auditor. A good-faith report protects the accountant from prosecution for breach of professional secrecy and from civil and disciplinary liability, but not from prosecution for money laundering or fraudulent collusion with the client.

Sanctions

The joint guidelines say that breaching confidentiality is punishable by a fine of 22,500 euros under article L.574-1 of the CMF. They say failure to report is not a criminal offence in itself, but can lead to disciplinary action by the profession's disciplinary chamber and to civil or professional liability, and that Tracfin may refer serious or deliberate breaches to the national council for disciplinary proceedings. Because the guidelines are undated and the CMF has been amended since, check the current penalty provisions.

What we could not confirm

• The current text of articles L.561-2 and following of the CMF as amended, including changes arising from European Union anti-money laundering directives.
• The date of the joint guidelines and whether the 22,500 euro figure is still current.
• Whether there is a statutory deadline such as "sans délai" for filing, since the guidelines use the wording "within a reasonable time".
• The profession's current national standard on anti-money laundering, which we did not read.

Suggested next steps

These are our suggestions, not requirements. Check the current standard issued by the national council of the Ordre des experts-comptables and the latest Tracfin guidance. Write down how staff move a doubt to a documented suspicion and who signs the report. Keep the report out of the client file. For team training, see our CPD courses.

Frequently asked questions

Are accountants in France covered by AML law?

Yes. Tracfin says experts-comptables and commissaires aux comptes are covered by article L.561-2 12° of the Code monétaire et financier.

How long must due diligence records be kept?

Five years, according to Tracfin's page on vigilance obligations.

How are suspicion reports filed?

In writing, preferably through Tracfin's online application Ermès or a fillable form, according to the joint guidelines of the Conseil supérieur de l'Ordre des experts-comptables and Tracfin.