Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution - ACPR (French financial supervisory body)

About the ACPR
The Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) is responsible for supervising the banking and insurance sectors in France.

The Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution, which is an independent administrative authority, is charged with preserving the stability of the financial system and protecting the customers, insurance policyholders, members and beneficiaries of the persons that it supervises.

The ACPR’s statutory objectives are set out in Article L. 612-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code.

To discharge its duties, the ACPR has, with respect to entities under its jurisdiction:

• supervisory powers;
• the power to impose administrative enforcement measures;
• disciplinary powers.

It may also make public any information that it deems necessary to discharge its duties.

The ACPR is an independent administrative authority attached to the Banque de France. Its chairman is the governor of Banque de France.

The structure of the ACPR is based on the different decision-making bodies: 

• The Supervisory College; 
• The Resolution College;
• The Sanctions Committee.

and the different consultative bodies, the Audit Committee and the Scientific Consultative Committee.

The ACPR’s operating departments, which are overseen by the General Secretariat, comprise around 1,100 employees, who work to ensure the stability of the financial system and customer protection.

Tasks
The Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution is charged with preserving the stability of the financial system and protecting the customers, insurance policyholders, members and beneficiaries of the persons that it supervises.

The ACPR’s statutory objectives are set out in Article L. 612-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code.

Ensuring the stability of the financial system
It is responsible for:

• issuing licences and authorisations as laid down in legislation and regulations;
• conducting ongoing supervision of the financial position and operating conditions of the institutions subject to its supervision, including in particular their compliance with solvency requirements and liquidity maintenance rules. The ACPR ensures that insurance institutions are in a position to honour their commitments to policyholders, members, beneficiaries and reinsured companies at all times, and that they actually honour those commitments in practice;
• ensuring that reporting entities comply with the rules governing the procedures for doing business, whether they are operating by themselves or through subsidiaries, and with the rules governing acquisitions and equity investments;
• supervising the preparation and implementation of measures to prevent and resolve banking crises, with a view to safeguarding financial stability, maintaining the continuity of the activities, services and operations of institutions whose failure would have a serious impact on the economy, protecting depositors, and avoiding, or limiting to the greatest possible extent, any recourse to public financial aid.

Consumer protection
It is responsible for:

• supervising compliance with rules designed to protect customers, whether these rules stem from legislation and regulations, codes of conduct approved at the request of a professional association or industry best practices that the Authority either observes or recommends;
• The ACPR also checks that reporting institutions have adequate resources and appropriate procedures in place to comply with these rules. In relation to this statutory objective, it cooperates with the Autorité des marches financiers (AMF) through an entity common to both institutions, the Joint Unit.

To represent France in the international and European bodies
Cooperating closely with the Banque de France and relevant government agencies, the ACPR represents France in the international and European bodies responsible for supervising the insurance and banking industries. It thus contributes to achieving financial stability goals within the European Economic Area and to promoting convergence in national and European supervisory practices.

Organisation
The structure of the ACPR is based on the different decision-making and consultative bodies that enable the Authority to fulfil its statutory objectives.

The Supervisory College
The responsibilities entrusted to the ACPR are exercised by the Supervisory College, which has several configurations depending on the issues being addressed. It has 19 members and is chaired by the Governor of the Banque de France.

• The plenary session of the College deals with general supervisory issues concerning the banking and insurance sectors. It analyses risks in both sectors with regard to the economic situation. It also makes decisions on the Authority’s organisational, operating and budget principles and sets the ACPR’s Rules of Procedure. Each year, it sets the supervisory priorities.
• The Sub-Colleges, one for banking, the other for insurance, each of which has eight members, have jurisdiction over specific matters and general issues relating to their respective sectors.
• The Supervisory College meets in restricted session (also consisting of eight members) to deal with individual issues having a material impact on the two sectors or on financial stability as a whole, as well as matters relating to the supervision of financial conglomerates.

The Resolution College
The Resolution College was established by Banking Separation and Regulation Act 2013-672 of 26 July 2013. It is chaired by the Governor of the Banque de France and has six members. The Resolution College is tasked with supervising the preparation and implementation of measures to prevent and resolve banking crises.

At the ACPR, the work of the Resolution College is prepared by a specific directorate. The head of the college is appointed by a decree from the Minister of the Economy on the recommendation of the Governor of the Banque de France, who is also Chairman of the ACPR.

The legal construction of the 2013 Act seeks to ensure the separation of supervision and resolution activities while allowing operational flexibility for the College to work with all ACPR teams on a day-to-day basis. The Resolution director reports directly to the Resolution College. The resources required are incorporated in the ACPR budget, which now has a section, agreed after consultation with the Resolution director, relating to the Resolution Directorate’s operations. To carry out its tasks, the Resolution Directorate has access to information held by ACPR for supervisory purposes.

In 2014, the Resolution College has adopted a general strategy on resolution that will define the key tenets of the ACPR’s approach in this area. In line with this general strategy, and while adapting to the particular situation of each banking institution or group, the Resolution College’s new directorate will have to draw up operational resolution plans that explain the specific ways in which the resolution measures will be applied to each of the banking institutions and groups concerned.

The Sanctions Committee
The Sanctions Committee is responsible for punishing violations of the laws and regulations applicable to reporting institutions.

The Audit Committee
The Audit Committee is tasked with ensuring that the ACPR’s resources are used appropriately. As a consultative body, the committee gives prior opinions on the following:

• the ACPR’s preliminary budget, before it is adopted by the Supervisory College;
• the budget outturn report for the previous year;
• the rebilling agreements for resources and services provided by the Banque de France, before they are approved.

The consultative committees and the Scientific Consultative Committee
The ACPR’s Supervisory College relies on several consultative committees to provide guidance on specific topics:

• The Consultative Committee on Prudential Affairs;
• The Consultative Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing;
• The Consultative Committee on Business Practices;
• The duties of the Scientific Consultative Committee are to promote synergies between financial research and prudential supervision and to keep abreast of developments liable to affect the banking an insurance sectors.

The General Secretariat
The General Secretariat oversees the ACPR’s operational departments. It is run and organised by the Secretary General named by order of the Minister for the Economy, on the proposal of the ACPR Chairman.

Sources : http://acpr.banque-france.fr/en/home.html