Bank of France helps launch Charter of Trust to proactively identify and support businesses showing early signs of distress

The Bank of France has announced the launch of the Charter of Trust, a joint commitment by public, private and civil-society organisations to intervene earlier with entrepreneurs as soon as initial signs of business fragility emerge. The charter responds to findings that existing support schemes are often activated too late, particularly by very small firms, and follows recommendations from an April 2025 report by the National Credit Mediator for companies and the Business Mediator. Signatories commit to two levers: raising awareness from business creation about anticipation, support and prevention, including training and basic management tools such as cash-flow forecasting and the “manager’s toolkit”; and, where signatories have advanced signals about a company’s health, initiating proactive outreach to share observations, identify possible actions and rapidly direct firms to the most appropriate existing support mechanisms. The signatories include the Bank of France, the credit and business mediation services, ministries, business organisations, the French Banking Federation, credit insurers, chambers and professional bodies for accountants, auditors and restructuring practitioners.