The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) is updating its doctrine in light of the recent revision of the European Benchmarks Regulation and the new regulatory framework for deposits with the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations

AMF doctrine update in light of the BMR revision

The entry into application, on 1 January 2026, of Regulation (EU) 2025/914 of 7 May 2025, revising the regulation on indices used as benchmarks (BMR), necessitates an update of the instructions applicable to asset management companies (AMCs), investment services providers (ISPs) other than AMCs, and UCITS and AIFs.

Update to Instructions DOC-2008-03 and DOC-2014-01

Under the previous BMR regime, all benchmark administrators had to comply with the requirements of this regulation, irrespective of the amount of financial instruments, derivatives or investment funds using these indices as a benchmark (hereinafter the ‘notional amount’). Thus, they applied to all three categories of benchmarks provided for by the BMR: critical benchmarks (notional amount ≥ 500 billion euros), significant benchmarks (notional amount ≥ 50 billion euros) and non-significant benchmarks (notional amount < 50 billion euros).

Under the new BMR regime, since 1 January 2026, non-significant benchmarks, which are neither ‘Paris-Aligned’ (PAB) nor ‘Climate Transition’ (CTB) indices, and which do not fall under the commodity indices covered by Annex II of the BMR have been excluded from the regulation’s scope of application. Consequently, only critical and significant benchmarks, ‘PAB’ and ‘CTB’ benchmarks, irrespective of the notional amount of the latter two, and the commodities benchmarks falling under Annex II of the BMR, remain within the scope of the BMR.

As a result, for their indices to be used within the meaning of the BMR in the European Union, administrators who solely provide benchmarks that are now excluded from the scope of application of the BMR are no longer required to be authorised or registered by their competent authority, or if the administrator is located in a third country, to use one of the three mechanisms provided for by the BMR, namely, equivalence, recognition and endorsement.

In 2018, the AMF included in Instruction DOC-2008-03 on the authorisation procedure for AMCs and Instruction DOC-2014-01 on the programme of activity of ISPs other than AMCs, clarifications regarding the activity of administering benchmarks in order to support these market participants, where appropriate, in applying for authorisation or registration as a benchmark administrator.

To take account of the reduction in the scope of the BMR, the AMF has updated the two aforementioned instructions by specifying that the activity of benchmark administrator is only subject to authorisation or registration in the instances provided for in Article 34 of the BMR, i.e. when they administer benchmarks falling within the new scope of the BMR.

Update to Instructions DOC-2011-19, DOC-2011-20, DOC-2011-21, DOC-2011-22, DOC-2011-23 and DOC-2012-06

Under the previous regime, Article 29.2 of the regulation required that the prospectus of a UCITS using a benchmark, as defined by the BMR, indicate whether the index is provided by an administrator included in the ESMA public register.

The reduction in the scope of the indices used as benchmarks covered by the BMR has resulted in a narrowing of the scope of this obligation to provide information. Thus, under the new BMR regime, only those UCITS that use benchmarks falling within the scope now covered by the regulation remain subject to the obligation to indicate, in their prospectus, the status of the administrator of the index in question.

In 2018, the AMF extended this obligation to provide information about the administrator in prospectuses to certain AIFs, namely general-purpose investment funds (FIVGs), professional general-purpose investment funds (FPVGs), funds of alternative funds (FFAs), employee savings scheme funds, retail private equity investment funds (FCPRs), retail venture capital investment funds (FCPIs), retail local investment funds (FIPs), real estate collective investment undertakings (OPCIs), professional real estate collective investment undertakings (OPPCIs), professional private equity funds (FPCIs), specialised professional funds (FPSs) and specialised financing vehicles (OFSs).

Following this revision of the BMR, the AMF is updating the prospectus templates or, where applicable, the rules for UCITS and AIFs in Instructions DOC-2011-19, DOC-2011-20, DOC-2011-21, DOC-2011-22, DOC-2011-23 and DOC-2012-06 to:

• Specify that the notices relating to the administrator only apply when the fund uses an index that falls within the scope of the BMR. As a result, existing UCITS and AIFs that use a benchmark that does not fall within the new scope of the BMR will have to update their prospectus or rules to remove these notices by 1 October 2026 at the latest, or, failing that, as soon as possible thereafter.
• Remove the extension of the information obligation relating to the administrator in prospectuses or rules for:
  • AIFs open to professional investors (i.e. FPVGs, OPPCIs, FPSs, including SLPs and SLPSs, FPCIs and OFSs), except those authorised under the ELTIF Regulation and which may be marketed to retail clients; and
  • AIFs open to retail investors (FIVGs, private equity funds and OPCIs), when their prospectus reserves the subscription or acquisition of units or shares to professional clients.
• Remove the transitional provisions introduced in 2018 which have become obsolete.
• Recall the new requirement provided for in Article 29.2 of the BMR which consists of inserting in the prospectus of UCITSs ‘clear and prominent’ information when a significant benchmark used by the fund has been the subject of a communication published in the ESMA register relaying a warning issued by a competent authority to alert the public that the benchmark does not comply with the requirements of the regulation. The AMF is extending this obligation to provide information in the prospectus or, where applicable, the rules of the AIFs concerned with the aforementioned information obligation relating to the administrator.

The new CDC deposit system

Decree No. 2025-673 of 18 July 2025, adopted pursuant to order No. 2025-230 of 12 March 2025, introduced the obligation for the liquidator of a UCITS or an AIF whose units or shares are registered on account in nominative form to notify the AMF of the existence of sums allocated to unit holders or shareholders whose identity could not be established despite the necessary steps having been taken and who, as a result, could not receive the sums due to them. This notification triggers a period of one year after which the liquidator must deposit the remaining sums with the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.

In Instructions DOC-2011-19, DOC-2011-20, DOC-2011-21, DOC-2011-22, DOC-2011-23, DOC-2012-06, DOC-2019-04 and DOC-2014-02, the AMF specifies that it should be notified of these remaining sums by means of the new form provided for this purpose in the annex to the aforementioned instructions.