The workplace of the Ombudsman on the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has launched its 2023 annual report, highlighting a rising variety of circumstances in actual property funding firms, crowdfunding, and crypto property in comparison with the earlier 12 months.
The AMF Ombudsman acquired 1,922 circumstances in 2023, in comparison with 1,900 in 2022. The report signifies a major drop in admissible circumstances, resulting in fewer options proposed by the Ombudsman. Nonetheless, the staff managed to deal with and shut a considerable variety of circumstances, decreasing the backlog by practically 40%.
Notably, 1,129 admissible circumstances have been reported, which in comparison with 1,341 in 2022. 2,060 circumstances have been processed and closed, a drop in comparison with 2,089 in 2022. This resulted in 826 proposed options, a decline of 18%.
Share financial savings plans accounted for 25% of the overall referrals, persevering with to be the first supply of disputes. Points usually consequence from delays in transferring plans between establishments. A notable case concerned non-compliance with tax rules attributable to a number of transfers.
Whereas not the principle focus, worker financial savings schemes nonetheless represent 18% of referrals, with early launch being the key criticism. In the meantime, disputes associated to inventory market orders have decreased considerably, a shift attributed to fewer new traders and a lowered quantity of securities operations.
In 2023, the financial local weather in 2023 skilled a pointy enhance in disputes associated to actual property funding firms and crowdfunding. SCPI disputes doubled to 86 circumstances, primarily regarding delays in redemption requests and unit depreciation. Actual property crowdfunding circumstances additionally surged by 110%, necessitating a distinction between market downturn points and platform-specific malfunctions.
Cryptoasset-related disputes have risen sharply, with 88 circumstances in 2023 in comparison with 54 in 2022. This rise correlates with the rising variety of platforms registered by the AMF as digital asset service suppliers (DASPs). The continued software of the MiCA regulation will impression these suppliers, permitting them to proceed operations beneath current legal guidelines till mid-2026.
Stablecoin Points
Comparatively, the risky crypto asset market and the rise in registered DASPs led to a pointy rise in crypto-related complaints in 2022. The variety of disputes jumped to 54, with 17 deemed admissible. Points included issues with stablecoins and the practices of sure market members exploiting “reverse solicitation” to keep away from AMF registration.
Final 12 months, the Ombudsman’s proposals favored candidates 54% of the time, with a excessive compliance price of 95%. Among the many circumstances closed, 202 suggestions led to monetary proposals, with compensation totaling €864,519.
Private fairness financial savings plans have been the main reason behind disputes, accounting for a good portion of the referrals. Most points revolved round delays in transferring PEAs between establishments. This recurrent drawback led the AMF Board to kind a working group in September, chaired by Jacqueline Eli-Namer, to hunt sensible options.