Intermediaries in banking and payment services, better known by their acronym IOBSP, are key players in the financial landscape for many individuals and businesses. Whether they are mortgage brokers or agents, their role is to help you find financing solutions or banking services. However, this activity is strictly regulated to protect customers. Understanding their obligations to provide information and intelligence is an essential first step in ensuring that your interests are properly defended. This article is part of the complete guide to the obligations of IOBSPs and focuses on two pillars of customer relations: transparency about their identity and the collection of information about you.
iobsp's obligations to disclose their identity and financial links
Before taking any action, an IOBSP is obliged to provide you with clear information about who they are and who they work for. This transparency requirement is designed to prevent conflicts of interest and enable you to make an informed decision. The aim is to ensure that the intermediary is acting in your interests and not solely in the interests of a partner institution that is paying them.
Mandatory pre-contractual information
Right from the first contact, the law requires IOBSPs to present themselves clearly. In accordance with article R. 519-20 of the French Monetary and Financial Code, they must give you their name (or company name), their business address and, above all, their registration number with ORIAS (Organisme pour le registre unique des intermédiaires en assurance, banque et finance). This register is public and accessible online. You can use it to check that the professional is authorised to operate and what category of intermediary he or she belongs to (broker, exclusive agent, etc.). This simple check is your first safety reflex. The IOBSP must also tell you about complaints procedures and the contact details of the relevant department, as well as those of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), the industry supervisor.
Transparency on links and exclusivity
An IOBSP may be independent, like a broker, or work on behalf of one or more financial institutions as an agent. This situation has a direct influence on the range of offers you will be presented with. Article L. 519-4-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code requires intermediaries to clarify their position. They must tell you whether they are under a contractual obligation to work exclusively with certain institutions and, if you so request, tell you the names of those institutions. They must also disclose the existence of any significant financial or economic links with these partners. In concrete terms, if a credit institution holds more than 10 % of its capital, or vice versa, this information must be provided to you. This transparency is fundamental to assessing its objectivity. An intermediary whose sales are largely dependent on a single bank could be encouraged to favour that bank's products. The question of remuneration of the IOBSP is a central aspect of this transparency.
iobsp advertising and correspondence
The obligation of clarity extends to all communication media. According to article R. 519-24 of the Monetary and Financial Code, all advertising, commercial documents and correspondence issued by an IOBSP must mention its name, address, ORIAS registration number and category. However, the ACPR regularly finds failings in its inspections. It is not uncommon to see documents in which only a network's brand name is given prominence, making it difficult to identify precisely the legal entity with which you are contracting. Not only is such a practice illegal, but it deprives you of information that is essential if you are to exercise your rights in the event of a dispute.
The duty to provide information on the banking transaction and the service offered
In addition to their own presentation, IOBSPs have a duty to provide detailed information about the products they offer. His role is not simply to find an offer, but to ensure that you understand its nature, operation and consequences. This obligation is particularly strong in the area of credit, where a misunderstood commitment can have serious and lasting financial repercussions.
Key features and financial consequences
Article R. 519-22 of the French Monetary and Financial Code is very clear: the IOBSP must present the "essential characteristics" of the proposed contract. In the case of credit, this includes elements such as the interest rate, the repayment period, the amount of the instalments (with and without insurance), the total cost of the transaction and the guarantees required. But their obligation goes even further. They must actively "draw your attention" to the consequences that taking out the contract could have on your financial situation. In practical terms, this means alerting you to the impact of the new monthly payments on your budget, the lengthening of your period of indebtedness in the case of a debt consolidation, or the risks associated with a variable rate. This is an educational approach, and the level of detail should be adapted to your own experience of financial matters.
Formal communications
The information provided must not only be complete, but also properly transmitted. Article R. 519-23 of the French Monetary and Financial Code requires that the information be provided "clearly and accurately". It must also be provided on a "durable medium". This term refers to any instrument that enables customers to store information addressed to them personally, so that they can refer to it at a later date for an appropriate period of time, and which allows the information stored to be reproduced identically. In practice, this is usually a paper document or a digital file (PDF for example) that is given to you. This requirement guarantees that you have a written record of the information provided before committing yourself, which is a fundamental protection in the event of disagreement at a later date.
Shortcomings identified by acpr
The ACPR's inspections have highlighted the unfortunately common practice of neglecting these obligations. For example, the supervisor has found that the essential features of the loans offered (name of the lending bank, APR, etc.) are sometimes missing from the pre-contractual documentation. Worse still, some intermediaries fail to play their warning role. They fail to warn their customers of the negative impacts of a transaction, particularly when the total cost is very high, the repayment period increases significantly or a foreseeable drop in income (such as retirement) is likely to make repayment difficult. It is important to distinguish this obligation to provide information, which is a minimum requirement, from the the broker's duty to advisewhich involves a personalised, well-argued recommendation.
iobsp's obligation to provide information on the customer's situation
While the IOBSP must inform you, it also has a duty to find out about you. This is not an intrusive curiosity, but a legal obligation designed to ensure that the service or product offered to you is well suited to your situation and that the future lender will have the necessary information to assess your ability to repay.
Gathering information for tailored services
Under article R. 519-21 of the French Monetary and Financial Code, the IOBSP must gather information about your knowledge and experience of banking transactions, but also and above all about your financial situation and needs. This involves gathering precise information about your resources (wages, property income, etc.), your expenses (rent, maintenance payments, etc.) and any outstanding loans. The aim is twofold: firstly, to enable the intermediary to offer you suitable solutions, and secondly, to send a complete file to the credit institution, which can then carry out its own solvency analysis. This is why they will ask you for supporting documents (pay slips, tax returns, bank statements, etc.).
The issue of document falsification
What happens if a customer provides falsified documents to obtain credit? Can the IOBSP be held liable for failing to detect the fraud? Case law, in particular a ruling by the Cour de cassation on 17 February 2021, has clarified this point. The broker or intermediary is not an investigator. They are only liable if the documents show an "apparent anomaly", i.e. a gross defect that a diligent professional should have noticed. In the absence of such an anomaly, the auditor cannot be held responsible for failing to detect a well-constructed fraud. The lending institution is ultimately responsible for checking the documents thoroughly.
No obligation to analyse solvency
This is an essential and often misunderstood point of law. The IOBSP has an obligation to collect information about your situation, but in principle has no legal obligation to analyse your creditworthiness. This crucial task is the responsibility of the lender, as set out in articles L. 312-16 and L. 313-16 of the French Consumer Code. The role of the IOBSP is to put the pieces of the jigsaw together; it is up to the bank to put them together to assess the risk of non-repayment. While some lower court rulings have sometimes appeared to impose such an obligation on IOBSPs, this position remains questionable in terms of positive law and the clear division of roles between the intermediary and the end lender. The IOBSP helps you put together the application, and the lender decides to grant you the finance after checking your ability to pay.
The information and disclosure obligations imposed on IOBSPs are designed to establish a balanced relationship and protect the consumer. Failure to comply with these obligations may not only vitiate your consent, but may also render the intermediary liable under professional civil law. If you feel that you have been the victim of a lack of information or advice from an IOBSP, it is important to know your rights. We will be happy to analyse your case and help you with the necessary steps, contact our firm of lawyers specialising in banking law.
Sources
- French Monetary and Financial Code, in particular articles L. 519-1 et seq. and R. 519-1 et seq.
- Consumer Code, in particular articles L. 312-16 and L. 313-16.
- Case law of the Cour de cassation and the Courts of Appeal relating to the liability of banking intermediaries.
- Communications and reports from the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR).
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