Employment in Financial Services

The hiring of employees in the financial services sector follows the common law regime. Thus, in principle, the hiring of an employee means the contractualising of the employment relationship. Although it is not in principle mandatory for the parties to sign an employment contract, but for exceptional cases (part-time employment contract, fixed-term contract, etc), it is nevertheless recommended to contractualise the relationship to avoid any future dispute.

It is also common, at the time of hiring, for the employee to commit to a non-compete and confidentiality obligation concerning his employer, either through clauses in his employment contract or through a separate agreement. These obligations must be the subject of a signed document and are therefore generally incorporated into the employment contract. In addition, most companies in the financial services sector make the hiring of an employee conditional upon that person signing a charter of good conduct or a policy to prevent and manage conflicts of interest.

The employer is also required to make a pre-employment declaration.

Finally, as stated, for certain positions, the employer must notify the ACPR or the ECB of the hire, and they must ratify the appointment.

In principle, working in the financial services sector does not require registration. However, some companies, such as banks, must be licensed.

The following natural persons who are not employees of a legal person must be registered in the Single Register of Insurance, Banking and Finance Intermediaries (article L.546-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code, amended by article 18 of order no. 2021-1735 of December 22, 2021 modernizing the framework for participative financing):

• intermediaries in banking and payment services as defined in article L. 519-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code.
• financial investment advisors as defined in article L. 541-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code;
• tied agents as defined in article L. 545-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code and intermediaries in participatory financing.

To be registered, these intermediaries must meet four professional conditions: professional liability insurance, good repute, professional capacity and financial guarantees, which are verified by the unique register of insurance, banking and financial intermediaries when they are registered.

In addition, the providers of participative financing services mentioned in article L. 547-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code must be approved by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).