AML/CFT 2026: French accountants' Tracfin filing duties

Updated 24 May 2026 — written by Hayot Expertise, French chartered accounting firm in Paris 8.

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT, locally LCB-FT) is no longer a back-office checklist. With the EU AMLR/AMLD6 package adopted in May 2024 and the steady tightening of French supervision, a chartered accounting firm now sits at the heart of France's prevention framework.

This article maps the 2026 framework for foreign founders, expatriate directors and cross-border SMEs that need to understand what their French expert-comptable must do — and what they should expect to be asked.

We focus on what is verifiable on official French sources (Légifrance, Tracfin, Ordre des experts-comptables) and EU sources (EUR-Lex).

The French AML core sits in articles L.561-1 to L.561-50 of the Code monétaire et financier (CMF), originally transposed from the 3rd EU AML directive by ordinance 2009-104 of 30 January 2009 and updated by ordinances 2016-1635 (4th directive) and 2020-115 (5th directive).

On top of the CMF, French accountants are bound by:

• the internal rules of the Ordre des experts-comptables (the regulator);
• the AML professional standard for chartered accountants (revised in 2020 and 2023);
• joint Tracfin / Ordre guidelines, updated periodically;
• the EU AMLR (Regulation 2024/1624) and AMLD6 (Directive 2024/1640), most of which apply from 10 July 2027.

A new European AML Authority (AMLA) will be officially seated in Frankfurt on 9 June 2026, though its direct supervision starts only in 2028 and over a short list of financial institutions. The harmonisation pressure is real, however, and French inspections have already intensified in 2024-2025.

2.1 Identifying the client and the ultimate beneficial owner (RBE)#

Before any engagement, the firm must identify:

• the client itself (individual or entity);
• its ultimate beneficial owner (UBO/BE) per articles R.561-1 to R.561-3 CMF: any individual holding, directly or indirectly, more than 25 % of share capital or voting rights, or exerting control by any other means.

For French companies, UBO identification flows through the register of beneficial owners (RBE) maintained at the greffes, accessible to AML-obliged entities via data.inpi.fr. Following the CJEU ruling of 22 November 2022 (cases C-37/20 and C-601/20), broad public access is restricted, but accounting firms — as obliged entities — keep full access.

Minimum file content:

2.2 Risk rating (low / standard / enhanced)#

Article L.561-4-1 CMF requires every client to be assigned a documented risk rating. Three levels apply:

• Low: established French entity, low-risk sector, mainstream operations — simplified due diligence allowed (article L.561-9).
• Standard: default level.
• Enhanced: PEP, FATF-monitored jurisdiction, atypical cross-border flows, cash-intensive or sensitive sectors (crypto, luxury real estate) — enhanced due diligence required (article L.561-10).

Risk classification must be refreshed whenever a material change occurs — capital change, new director, business pivot, press alert, etc.

2.3 Record-keeping#

Identification documents and transaction records must be kept for five years after the end of the engagement (article L.561-12 CMF). In practice, firms rely on encrypted document management systems with timestamping and restricted access (AML officer + senior partner).

3.1 What triggers the obligation#

The duty to file kicks in as soon as the firm has a suspicion that the funds or operations stem from an offence punishable by more than one year of imprisonment (article L.561-15 CMF). Tracfin's annual typology reports flag the patterns most often encountered by accountants:

• complacency invoices, intra-group over-billing;
• shareholder current accounts fed by unjustified cash;
• weak rationale for capital contributions;
• atypical flows with high-risk jurisdictions;
• mismatch between declared business and the director's lifestyle;
• abrupt switch to brand-new, opaque suppliers.

3.2 Filing via Ermes#

The SAR is filed through Tracfin's online portal Ermes (https://www.economie.gouv.fr/tracfin). Required content:

1. the filer's identity (firm and named AML officer);
2. the full client identification;
3. the operations and amounts at stake;
4. a factual rationale for the suspicion;
5. supporting documents (invoices, statements, contracts).

Tracfin acknowledges receipt and keeps the filing confidential.

3.3 The tipping-off prohibition#

Article L.561-19 CMF strictly forbids disclosing the filing — to the client, to a third party, even to another professional involved in the file. Breaching the prohibition is a criminal offence under article L.574-1 CMF (up to €22,500 fine). The firm carries on with its engagement, unless the engagement itself becomes the vehicle for suspicious operations — in which case it must be terminated following the professional standard.

Some red flags warrant a candid conversation between the director and the firm before they crystallise into a suspicion:

• material use of cash above legal thresholds (€1,000 for B2B payments in France today; €10,000 EU-wide under AMLR from 2027);
• shell entities or stacked structures without economic substance;
• cross-border flows with FATF-monitored jurisdictions (list refreshed quarterly at fatf-gafi.org);
• UBO chains that are deliberately opaque;
• mismatch between declared income and lifestyle (real estate, vehicles, travel).

Addressing these proactively protects both the firm and the director from criminal exposure for complicity or laundering.

Add the reputational risk with banking partners (refusal of professional accounts, of bond facilities) and with the firm's professional liability insurer.

Our reading as a Paris-based chartered accountant, based on Ordre inspections we have observed since 2024.

1. Static UBO files. Many firms identify UBOs at onboarding and never refresh. Article L.561-12 requires dynamic review — an undisclosed 30 % stake transfer invalidates the original rating.
2. Default "standard" risk rating. Inspectors check coherence between sector, flow patterns and rating. An e-commerce client with marketplace flows should typically tip into enhanced on at least one criterion.
3. Confusion between SAR and informal signalling. The standard is reasonable suspicion, not proof. Many firms wait for evidence and file too late.
4. No named AML officer. Article R.561-23 requires the formal designation of an AML correspondent and a SAR filer. Smaller firms blur the two roles and lose the audit trail.
5. Paper records, no encryption. Inspectors check confidentiality. A client file kept in clear in an open cabinet is almost as weak as no record-keeping at all.

Who is subject to AML/CFT obligations in France?#

Article L.561-2 CMF lists more than thirty regulated professions: French chartered accountants (12°), statutory auditors, lawyers, notaries, real-estate agents, crypto-asset service providers, and more. No turnover threshold applies — any firm on the Ordre's roll is in scope.

What does Tracfin do, and how is a SAR submitted?#

Tracfin is France's financial intelligence unit, attached to the Ministry of Finance. SARs are filed via the Ermes portal at https://www.economie.gouv.fr/tracfin. Tracfin enriches the report with its own databases and may pass it to prosecutors, the French tax authority (DGFiP), or police services.

What does a French firm risk if a SAR is not filed?#

Up to €1m administrative fine per breach (article L.561-36-1 CMF), professional sanctions up to removal from the roll, and criminal exposure for complicity in laundering — up to ten years' imprisonment and €750,000 fine (articles 324-1 and 324-2 of the Penal Code).

Can a SAR be disclosed to the client?#

No. Article L.561-19 CMF strictly forbids any disclosure. Breaching the prohibition is criminal (€22,500 fine, article L.574-1 CMF). The firm continues the engagement as normal.

What changes with AMLR / AMLD6 in 2026-2027?#

Most AMLR provisions apply from 10 July 2027. Key changes: a €10,000 EU-wide cap on cash payments, the new AMLA authority in Frankfurt, expansion to professional sports clubs, and stronger UBO registers.

Read next: our Exit Tax 2026 guide, our DAC 7 platform obligations and our DAC 8 crypto-asset playbook.