Bank of France publishes CCSF report with seven proposals on the new sole proprietor status and access to banking and credit for 7.1 million entrepreneurs

The Bank of France published an update on the French Financial Sector Consultative Committee’s (CCSF) report to the Minister for the Economy on the effects of the new sole proprietor (entrepreneur individuel, EI) status introduced by the 2022 “API” law, focusing on access to banking services and bank credit, the use of waivers from the separation of personal and professional assets, and the treatment of EIs facing financial distress. The report, adopted unanimously by the CCSF plenary on 25 March 2025, notes that 2023 was the first full year of implementation, limiting available hindsight. It flags legal and operational questions around the asset-separation framework, including the legal certainty of the “utility” criterion for identifying professional assets, and calls for normative clarification of how collective insolvency procedures interact with over-indebtedness procedures, which it finds complex and poorly understood. On market impacts, it reports that EI-bank relationships have not fundamentally changed, with EIs generally satisfied, while the readability of banking service labels and tariffs remains under review, with the French Banking Federation expected to report back by end-2025. On credit, it cites EUR 28.9bn of outstanding credit to EIs at end-2023 and a steadily growing (though still marginal) professional microcredit segment; it recommends extending the requirement to keep an operating expenses register to all micro-entrepreneurs to support financial management and credit access. The CCSF also observes limited use of the API-law waiver mechanism allowing EIs to renounce asset separation, and suggests a future evaluation of both waivers and conventional security taken over personal assets once sufficient implementation experience is available. The CCSF sets out seven proposals grouped under four axes: improving data and understanding of the EI population (including analysis of the gap between registered and contributing EIs and an annual mapping exercise), strengthening EI information and training on professional responsibilities, facilitating bank credit and support (including review of guarantees and waiver practices), and simplifying the pathway for entrepreneurs in difficulty (including studies on access to prevention tools and clearer post-entry processes).