Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR)

What Is the ACPR?

The Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) is France’s supervisor for the banking and insurance sectors, backed by the Banque de France and chaired by its Governor. Formed in 2010 from the merger of France’s separate banking and insurance supervisors, it acts without seeking or receiving instruction from the government under Article L. 612-1 of the Code monétaire et financier.

Its remit reaches credit institutions, payment and electronic money institutions, insurers, reinsurers, mutuals, brokers, and intermediaries. Crypto-asset service providers fall under shared competence with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), a boundary that matters as digital asset service providers migrate into the MiCA regime.

What Does the ACPR Do?

The ACPR has four core responsibilities. It authorizes firms to enter regulated markets, supervises them on an ongoing basis, takes enforcement action when requirements are breached, and prepares resolution plans for institutions that could fail.

The 2026 supervisory program contains 213 planned on-site investigations, up from 185 in the initial 2025 program. The 2026 supervisory program includes 213 planned on-site investigations, compared with 185 in the initial 2025 program. In 2025, the ACPR issued 453 requests for corrective measures, showing that supervisory activity extends beyond identifying weaknesses to monitoring their remediation. The authority issued 453 requests for corrective measures during the year, alongside targeted follow-up actions and sanctions.

How Does the ACPR Work?

The ACPR’s governance separates supervision, resolution, and sanctions. The Supervisory College oversees supervised institutions and may open disciplinary proceedings. The Resolution College handles resolution planning and related decisions. A separate Sanctions Commission adjudicates disciplinary cases, thereby distinguishing the supervisory function from the body that decides sanctions.

The supervisory response can range from corrective measures and formal notices to activity restrictions and disciplinary proceedings, depending on the nature and seriousness of the findings. For AML/CFT and restrictive-measures breaches covered by Article L. 612-39 of the French Monetary and Financial Code, the Sanctions Commission can impose a financial penalty of up to €100 million or 10% of annual net turnover, alongside other disciplinary measures provided by law. Decisions can also be published in nominative form, extending the consequences of an enforcement action beyond the financial penalty.

ACPR decisions show that a remediation plan alone is not sufficient to offset an established breach. The timing, scope, and demonstrated effectiveness of corrective actions can influence how the authority assesses the case.

Where ACPR AML Supervision Is Focused Now

In 2025, the ACPR assessed or reassessed the individual risk profiles of 972 organizations, conducted 28 on-site AML/CFT inspections, and conducted 7 on-site visits. The authority also issued 30 follow-up letters, five formal notices, two activity restrictions, and two disciplinary sanctions.

The 2025 supervisory focus included crypto-asset service providers in the transition to MiCA, online-only providers, private banking, correspondent banking, and banking-as-a-service models, where layered relationships can complicate responsibility for AML controls and visibility of the end customer.

A July 2025 ACPR study examined “bounce accounts”, in which illicit funds are received and rapidly transferred onward, often to accounts held abroad. The authority has also examined virtual IBANs because layered payment arrangements can make it harder to establish responsibility for AML controls and the end customer’s visibility. Joint asset-freezing guidelines with the Directorate General of the Treasury were updated to cover instant credit transfers and crypto-asset transfers.

For 2026, the ACPR is also preparing for the new European AML framework and the transition toward AMLA supervision.

What AMLA Changes for Firms Under ACPR Supervision

AMLA’s direct-supervision model will apply to around 40 high-risk financial institutions or groups selected through an EU-wide risk assessment process. The first selection cycle takes place in 2027, with direct AMLA supervision becoming effective in July 2028. Other financial institutions will remain under national supervision, while national supervisors such as the ACPR will operate within the harmonized EU framework and cooperate with AMLA.

A key implementation date is 10 July 2027, when the EU’s new AML Regulation begins to apply, and the sixth AML Directive’s rules are due to be transposed into national law. For French firms, this means AML frameworks developed under national supervision will need to remain adaptable as EU-wide requirements and supervisory methodologies become more harmonized.

How AML Watcher Supports ACPR-Focused AML Monitoring

ACPR’s enforcement approach places attention on whether monitoring controls are appropriately calibrated to a firm’s risk exposure and operational capacity. AML Watcher combines contextual screening with configurable transaction monitoring. TruRisk uses multiple data points to help identify true positives and reduce screening noise, with AML Watcher reporting a 44% reduction in false positives and a 70–80% reduction in manual review effort.

For transaction and sanctions risk, AML Watcher provides coverage across 215+ sanctions regimes, 15-minute updates, crypto-wallet screening, and transaction monitoring, with 150+ pre-built AML typologies and 10,000+ customizable rules. These capabilities enable firms to configure monitoring logic based on customer segments, transaction behavior, and risk appetite.

For firms under ACPR supervision, the challenge is not simply generating alerts but demonstrating that monitoring rules reflect documented risk assessments and lead to actionable investigations. AML Watcher brings configurable monitoring and contextual screening into that workflow, helping compliance teams manage detection logic and investigation volumes more effectively.

Request a demo to see how AML Watcher can support a more focused AML monitoring and screening workflow.