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Compliance by Country

France: onboarding obligations and AML controls

Align onboarding, sanctions screening, and case operations in French Republic. AutoKYC unifies multi-provider KYC, KYB, and AML tooling with privacy-by-design audit trails and managed analyst services.

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Core regulatory expectations

Customer due diligence
French Monetary and Financial Code (Code monétaire et financier, Articles L561-1 to L561-45) mandates identification, beneficial ownership verification, and risk scoring before onboarding. ACPR and Tracfin require written procedures and customer risk segmentation aligned with EU AMLD standards.
Politically exposed persons
Politically exposed persons follow Article R561-18, covering national and foreign public officials, members of parliament, senior executives of state enterprises, and high-ranking judicial officers, including close family and associates. Enhanced scrutiny continues for at least 12 months after a PEP exits public office.
Record retention
Article L561-12 requires retaining KYC files, copies of supporting documents, and transactional evidence for five years following the termination of the business relationship, after which information must be deleted unless another legal basis exists.

Sanctions and watchlist coverage

AutoKYC’s sanctions engine can orchestrate risk-based screening across primary authorities required in France.

How AutoKYC operationalises these controls

KYC Orchestration Platform

Design multi-provider identity journeys with regulator-approved remote identification, tiered fallbacks, and privacy-safe audit trails tailored to France.

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Sanctions & AML Monitoring

Screen against EU, UN, and domestic sanctions authorities with rules-based escalation, risk scoring, and immutable audit logs for French Republic.

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Managed Onboarding & Case Ops

Delegate onboarding, periodic reviews, ODD/EDD, and escalation workflows to AutoKYC specialists operating from ISO 27001 certified facilities.

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Regulatory references

Maintain documented evidence for auditors and regulators. Link your policies to primary sources listed below.

Frequently asked questions

Use these answers to align product, compliance, and operations teams on local obligations.

Do French institutions accept remote identification? #1
Remote onboarding is permitted when it combines secure biometric verification, liveness checks, and strong evidence links in line with ACPR 2022-03 guidance.
What documentation supports beneficial ownership in France? #2
Companies must supply Kbis extracts or equivalent registry certificates, while non-resident structures require notarised and translated documents to substantiate ownership chains.
How is Tracfin reporting handled? #3
Suspicious transaction reports are filed electronically via the ERMES platform, with supporting documentation retained for five years.