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Paris121 bis, rue de la Pompe, 75116 Paris, France

Luxembourg30, rue Marie-Adélaïde, L-2128 Luxembourg

Private banks and asset managers

For the same client, your institution distributes the (assurance vie) contract, often manages its investment options and sometimes holds its assets in custody.

Life insuranceA contract under which an insurer undertakes to pay a lump sum or an annuity, at the end of the agreed term or on the death of the insured person, in return for premiums. In France, it is also widely used as a savings and wealth transfer vehicle.

Each role has its own rules and its own authority, but it is you the client will hold to account first. Since 24 October 2024, the Code des assurances (the French Insurance Code) has extended your (devoir de conseil) beyond subscription; from 10 July 2027, Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 will directly govern your due diligence against money laundering (⁠).

Duty to adviseThe obligation of the insurer or the distributor to propose a contract consistent with the client’s demands and needs, and to explain the reasons for that advice.
AML/CFTAnti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism: the obligations of due diligence, customer knowledge and reporting to Tracfin (the French financial intelligence unit) that apply to insurers and intermediaries. In French: LCB-FT.

Your questions

We are changing the insurer behind our white-label contract. What happens to in-force contracts?

They stay with the insurer that issued them. In principle, a contract does not pass from one insurer to another without a approved by the (the French prudential supervision and resolution authority), and a surrender followed by a new subscription would cost the client the contract’s tax seniority (antériorité fiscale). Exit terms are therefore negotiated when the partnership agreement is signed: management of the existing book, trail commissions, use of the brand, client information.

Portfolio transferA transaction by which an insurer transfers all or part of its contracts to another insurer, with the approval of the supervisory authority.
ACPRAutorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution: the French authority, attached to the Banque de France, that authorises and supervises banks and insurers and oversees the protection of their customers.

What is the risk if our advisory management works, in practice, like a discretionary mandate?

Being treated as a manager without having signed a mandate. Under ⁠, you recommend and the policyholder decides each switch; under a ⁠, you decide yourself, within the agreed investment profile and with the insurer’s consent. If your recommendations are carried out without the client’s instruction, or merely on their silence, a court may find that you were in fact deciding, and assess your liability without the framework a written mandate would have provided.

Advisory managementA way of managing a contract in which the policyholder receives switching recommendations but makes the decisions.
Discretionary management mandateA way of managing a unit-linked contract in which the policyholder delegates switching decisions to a mandated manager, within an agreed investment strategy.

We manage a client’s dedicated internal fund. What rules govern our management?

For a Luxembourg contract issued since 1 February 2026, the rules set by the (the Luxembourg insurance supervisory authority) in ⁠: the (FID) has only one manager and one custodian, and its investment policy appears in an annex to the contract, within the limits of the policyholder’s category. The assets belong to the insurer, which entrusts their management to you by agreement. That agreement sets your instructions, limits, information obligations and remuneration.

Dedicated internal fund (FID)An internal fund of a Luxembourg insurer that underlies a single contract and has a single manager. As a rule, it requires a minimum premium of €125,000 and a policyholder in category A or above.
CAACommissariat aux assurances: the supervisory authority for the insurance sector in Luxembourg.
CAA Circular Letter 26/1A text of the Commissariat aux assurances that sets the investment rules for Luxembourg unit-linked life insurance contracts issued since 1 February 2026. It takes over from Circular Letter 15/3, without repealing it.

Our clients are wealthy and well advised. Does that lighten the duty to advise?

No. Before any subscription, the Code des assurances requires written advice based on the client’s demands and needs, financial situation, objectives, knowledge and sustainability preferences, then renewed if their situation changes or a significant transaction occurs. The client’s experience may weigh in the assessment of fault; it does not remove the need to collect this information or to keep a record of it.

We want our funds listed as unit-linked options. What will the insurer expect?

A fund eligible as a under the Code des assurances or, for a Luxembourg contract, the CAA’s investment rules, and reliable information for its policyholders: key information document, net asset values, charges, and the retrocessions you pay it, which are now disclosed to the policyholder. The marketing agreement sets these flows; it also provides for the notice to be given before any change to or closure of the fund, which the insurer will have to pass on.

Unit-linked fundA life insurance investment option linked to financial assets (funds, securities): the value of the contract follows the value of these assets, with no capital guarantee from the insurer.

Can we take a borrowing client’s life insurance contract as security?

Yes, by pledge (nantissement) or by delegation of claim (délégation de créance), but the security has to be built around the contract: if a beneficiary has already accepted the benefit, the pledge requires their consent. The deed must also deal with notice to the insurer, what happens to surrenders and switches and, if the insurer is established outside France, the governing law. Security that is not properly aligned with the contract may be unenforceable against the insurer or the beneficiary.

  1. 01

    Design

    We draft the agreements and documentation for your offers, with you and with the insurer.

    • White-label contract: choosing the carrier insurer, contractual documentation, exit clauses
    • Partnership agreement and co-manufacturing agreement with the insurer
    • Discretionary or advisory management offers: mandate, information notice, evidence agreement
    • Management agreement for a dedicated internal fund and custody agreement (security triangle)
    • Pledge or delegation of a contract as security for a loan
  2. 02

    Steer

    We keep your procedures up to date as the texts change and as the ACPR and the (the French financial markets authority) set out their positions.

    AMFAutorité des marchés financiers: the French regulator of financial markets and financial products, whose remit covers in particular the instruments offered as unit-linked funds.
    • Advice process: demands and needs, suitability, follow-up throughout the life of the contract
    • AML/CFT due diligence at subscription and during the contract, ahead of the 2027 EU regulation
    • Listing funds as unit-linked options, and information on changes to them
    • Client information on charges, performance and retrocessions
    • Tax position of non-resident clients and clients moving to France (impatriés)
  3. 03

    Defend

    We defend your institution when a client challenges its advice or its management.

    • Client complaints about the advice received or a failure to warn
    • Challenges to management: profile chosen, switches, losses
    • Disputes with the partner insurer, including when the partnership ends
    • ACPR inspections of how contracts are marketed

See also