France is the first European country out of the blocks to announce measures designed to entice UK financial firms in the wake of signals from the British government that it intends to deliver a "hard" Brexit.
In a joint statement the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR) and the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) said: "As all players in the Paris financial market are gearing up for the challenges posed by Brexit, the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution and the Autorité des marchés financiers are getting ready to welcome British-based institutions that wish to locate their business in France."
Brexit may have consequences for institutions based in the UK that use their country's current passport mechanism to carry out all, or part, of their activities in other EU countries under the freedom to provide services or the right of establishment.
"Against this background, some institutions operating under the passport mechanism may decide to establish an insurance company, investment firm, payment institution or an electronic money institution, licensed and supervised by the ACPR to carry out activities that are currently conducted in France through branches or directly from the institution's home country," said the French regulator.
ACPR has announced plans to make this easier for UK companies.
For existing activities already supervised by the competent authority in the home country, the ACPR's licensing procedure may be simplified and speeded up, it said.
This will be achieved by using documents already available in English, such as forms that have been submitted to the supervisory authorities in the home country and papers concerning a branch whose business will be taken over by the subsidiary firm.
An English-speaking contact point will be appointed to guide applicant firms through the procedure starting with the pre-authorisation period and provide all necessary information to ensure the smooth process of the applications.
In addition to its shared procedure with the ACPR for investment firms, the AMF is setting up a dedicated welcome programme for management firms and FinTech companies based in the UK that wish to apply for an authorisation in France.
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