The mediator of the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorité des marchés financiers, AMF) published its 2024 annual report, reporting a further rise in referrals linked in particular to the downturn in the real estate market. The service received 2,204 cases in 2024, up 15% from 2023 and up 70% since 2019, while 1,168 cases were admissible and within the mediator’s remit, up 16%. A total of 1,969 cases were handled and closed (down from 2023) following significant staff turnover, but acceptance of the mediator’s proposed solutions remained high at an average of 94% for both favourable and unfavourable outcomes. Disputes involving real estate investment companies (SCPI) and real estate crowdfunding increased sharply, up 64% and 88% respectively, attributed to the reversal of the property market. For SCPI, the main issues were delays in processing and executing redemption requests, sometimes compounded by falls in unit values and challenges to the advice given at subscription, with the mediator calling for marketing documents to be included among the records retained by both parties. In real estate crowdfunding, cases mainly concerned financing of complex property development projects and highlighted frequent shortcomings in platform project selection. Equity savings plans (Plan d'épargne en actions, PEA) and employee savings schemes remained the largest sources of referrals despite declines of 37% and 15%, with two-thirds of PEA disputes linked to transfer delays when changing institutions and unlisted securities adding complexity. Crypto-asset cases rose 22%, with admissible cases increasing to 36% from 31% in 2023 following increased registration of platforms as digital asset service providers (PSAN) in the previous two years.

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