Register to check legitimacy of financial institutions in France

A new official register makes it easier to check whether a bank, insurer or other financial institution is authorised to operate in France.

The REGAFI register covers banks, insurers, payment and investment organisations, including authorised organisations from other European countries operating in France. 

It is overseen by financial regulator ACPR and updated daily.

Users can check details including legal and trading names, address and the activities it is authorised to carry out.

The tool may be particularly useful for avoiding scams. 

More than 1,300 new unauthorised websites or financial operators were added to official blacklists in 2025, according to a report from the AMF and ACPR.

The report said there were an increasing number of online scams, involving fake financial products such as savings accounts, loans and investments. 

In some cases scammers impersonate genuine financial organisations, using their names on fake websites, emails and documents. 

Consumers should therefore compare all details with the official register before signing a contract, providing personal information or transferring money.

The authorities advise against responding to organisations that do not appear on the appropriate official register.

REGAFI or ORIAS?

Robert Kent of financial advisers Kentingtons clarified to us that Regafi is only for authorised financial institutions such as banks, insurers, payment institutions and investment firms and therefore not for intermediaries in insurance, banking or finance, such as financial advisers.

REGAFI has incorporated a former insurance register, REFASSU, so insurers such as La Mondiale and Generali are now included.

The relevant register for intermediaries in insurance, banking and finance is still ORIAS, which includes brokers and conseillers en investissements financiers (CIF), so this remains the relevant register for checking an independent financial adviser in France.

The two registers are complementary and for investment advice the appropriate register therefore depends on the capacity in which the firm is acting:

• A bank or investment firm authorised to provide investment services should appear on REGAFI.

• A firm acting as a CIF should appear on ORIAS.

• Where an insurance-based investment is involved, the insurer may appear on REGAFI while the adviser or insurance broker appears separately on ORIAS.

Mr Kent added that ‘EU passporting’ (allowing firms to operate cross-border in the EU) is also a relevant consideration.

“An EU-passported bank, insurer or investment firm operating in France would generally appear on REGAFI.

“However, an insurance or banking intermediary may instead be registered in another EEA member state and operate in France under its home-state authorisation.

“Readers may therefore need to check ORIAS or the relevant home-state register, depending on the firm’s precise status.”