The French Financial Markets Authority has introduced CORE, a new desk-based review methodology for financial investment advisers, and published the main lessons from 15 controls carried out between June and December 2025. CORE, short for Risk and Lessons Observation Campaign, is built on a risk-based approach across annual campaigns covering a broad panel of supervised firms. It is intended to support remediation and supervisory convergence, while also allowing the authority to escalate cases into full inspections where necessary. The 2025 campaigns identified weaknesses in three main areas: client information on costs and fees, the collection and use of sustainability preferences, and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls. On costs and fees, some advisers were not consistently providing complete, clear and easily understandable disclosures, particularly on tailoring costs to the amount invested, distinguishing service fees from product-related charges, and showing the cumulative effect on investment performance. Some firms also needed to better demonstrate that third-party inducements improve the service provided to clients. On sustainability, 73 percent of reviewed firms had incorporated questions on client preferences, but one-third did not cover all three regulatory dimensions of preferences, namely EU Taxonomy alignment, sustainable investments under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, and principal adverse impacts. The AMF also found shortcomings in how preferences were documented, used in advisory processes and reflected in target market definitions. On anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, the authority highlighted gaps in risk classification frameworks and in client identity checks, including insufficient supporting documents and delayed verification. A CORE review is opened by the AMF secretary general and is conducted exclusively with internal AMF resources. Firms must provide the requested documents and completed questionnaire within 10 business days, and documents not submitted within that deadline are treated as non-existent. Reviews either end with an observations letter and analysis grid, which may also be transmitted to the relevant professional association for follow-up, or continue as a classic control involving a new inspection team and possible on-site visits. The AMF said it will publish an annual synthesis of CORE findings.

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