Buying Goods & Services in France

(source: European Union)

1. The protection provided by Community law

You are now free to open a bank account in any Member State of the European Union and to make bank transfers to or from that account. This general right is, however, exercised in accordance with detailed rules that vary from one Member State to another. Accordingly, if you wish to open an account in certain Member States but you neither live there nor are registered there for tax purposes, you will have to prove that you are resident in another Member State.

As a depositor, if your deposit is denominated in a Community currency, you enjoy a minimum level of protection, which, in the event of default by a bank, guarantees you a refund, in accordance with certain rules, of at least ECU 20,000 per depositor (ECU 15,000 until the year 2000 for certain Member States).

You should also know that the European Union recently adopted common rules, due to enter into force in the Member States between now and 1999, in order to ensure that cross border transfers can be made quickly and reliably.

The protection provided by Community law in the area of banking services must be guaranteed by the legislation of each Member State. However, the rules concerning the opening of a bank account remain governed by national provisions which have not been harmonised. For this reason, the following section contains the key points of French legislation which anyone who has opened or wishes to open a bank account in France should know in order to be able to act in full knowledge of the facts and, if necessary, to assert their rights in the situations covered by French law. 

The information given in Section II has been supplied by the French authorities.

II. Useful information on the specific requirements laid down by French Law

Banks, mutual or cooperative banks, savings and provident banks and municipal credit banks are licensed to open current accounts for individuals.

Since the terms on which accounts are opened are governed by private law, licensed banks are free to accept or reject any individual's request to open a current account. The issue of cheque books and credit cards is likewise a matter for their sole discretion.

However, an individual whose request to open a deposit account has been refused by several banks and who consequently has no bank account is entitled to ask the Banque de France to designate a bank with which he or she can open such an account.

When opening an account, the bank must check the customer's identity by requiring him to produce an official document bearing his photograph. It must also keep a copy of that document or a record of the reference numbers.

Banks are under a general obligation to inform their customers and the public at large of the general terms and conditions on which they carry out transactions. When an account is opened, in particular, they must inform their customers of the conditions governing the use of the account, the price of the different services it offers and the rights and obligations of both parties.

Banks with their head office in France must belong to a deposit guarantee scheme. "Deposit" means any credit balance which results from funds left in an account or from temporary situations deriving from normal banking transactions.

Deposits and debt instruments issued by the defaulting bank which are denominated in currencies other than those of member countries of the European Economic Area are not covered by the deposit guarantee scheme.

The maximum amount guaranteed per depositor must be not less than FFr 400,000. This limit applies to the aggregate deposits placed by a depositor with the same bank irrespective of the number of deposits. The share of each depositor in a joint account is taken into consideration in calculating the above limit; in the absence of special provisions, such accounts are divided equally amongst the depositors.

The deposit guarantee scheme checks depositors' claims in respect of unavailable deposits and compensates them within two months of the date on which the Commission bancaire has found that the deposits in question are unavailable or of the date on which the court initiates composition or liquidation proceedings against the bank.

Where circumstances so require, the Commission bancaire may grant the deposit guarantee scheme a further two months in which to satisfy depositors' claims.

III. Reference documents

Community legislation

• Directive 94/19/EC on deposit guarantee schemes (published in Official Journal of the European Communities No L 135, 31.5.1994, p. 5).
• Directive 91/308/EEC on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering (published in Official Journal of the European Communities No L 166, 28.6.1991, p. 77) (referred to here only for the rule concerning the identification of customers).

National rules

• Loi n° 84-46 du 24 janvier 1984 modifiée relative à l'activité et au contrôle des établissements de crédit.
• Décret n° 84-708 du 24 juillet 1984 modifiée pris pour l'application de la loi n° 84-46.
• Loi n° 90-614 du 12 juillet 1990 modifiée relative à la participation des organismes financiers à la lutte contre le blanchiment.
• Décret n° 91-160 du 13 février 1991 pris en application de la loi n° 90-614.
• Règlement du Comité de la réglementation bancaire et financière n° 9501 du 21 juillet 1995 relatif à la garantie des dépôts.

IV. Contact points

• BANQUE DE FRANCE
  39 rue Croix des petits champs, 75001 PARIS (information).
• COMMISSION BANCAIRE, Secrétariat Général
  73 rue de Richelieu, 75002 PARIS (action, penalties).
• COMITE DES ETABLISSEMENTS DE CREDIT ET DES ENTREPRISES D'INVESTISSEMENT, Secrétariat Général
  39 rue Croix des petits champs, 75001 PARIS (information, action).

Note: This Citizens First Factsheet is intended to provide guidance on EU law for information purposes only. It has been prepared by the European Commission with the help of national authorities and contains information on the national implementation of EU law. You are advised that the texts of Community legal instruments should be relied upon in case of doubt concerning the extent of a right or obligation arising from EU law.