Loi relative à l’industrie verte – Synthèse AFG

The AFG published an interpretation of the Law No. 2023-973 of 23 October 2023, which the French Assembly adopted and published the following day. This law, called the Green Industry Law, aims to promote the financing of the energy transition through savings products. The law paves the way for the adaptation of French law to new ELTIFs and facilitates their integration into life insurance. It also introduces the new Climate Savings Plan, open to children from birth.
The law provides for a portion of investment in non-listed companies in the managed portfolios of PERs. It also introduces a two-year derogation for certain funds to exempt them from compliance with certain investment and diversification rules if they respect the ELTIF label rules. The law now allows individuals to invest in unlisted diversified assets through life insurance units.
The arbitrage mandate becomes a defined and regulated convention under the French Insurance Code. This convention is passed between an insurer (or an insurance intermediary) and an insured party, which may modify the distribution of amounts expressed in euros or units of account. The insurer (or insurance intermediary) may delegate management to a qualified asset management company under a mandate. The law explicitly states that the arbitrage mandate rules are subject to the usual insurance rules (conflict of interest management, product governance, etc.). The regime of remunerations received in the context of arbitrage operations is aligned with that of portfolio management commissions: these remunerations will be banned from 1 January 2026. The new arbitrage mandate regime, which will be completed by a decree of application, will enter into force on 25 October 2024.
As stated above, law also provides for the possibility of introducing a share of non-listed assets in the managed portfolios of PERs, regardless of whether they are managed by an insurance company or a financial institution. The modalities of this introduction will be defined by decree. The law also shortens the maximum advance notice period for collective PER transfer requests from 18 months to 6 months and allows information requests from retirement plan managers concerning the data of beneficiaries (date of death, liquidation date of a retirement plan, identification data – excluding the National Identity Number).
The law establishes a new Climate Savings Plan integrated into the French Monetary and Financial Code. This new mechanism, which can be exclusively opened for minors or young people under 21 years of age, is funded with funds used to acquire financial titles contributing to ecological transition or financial instruments with low exposure to risks whose issuers have their headquarters in France or in another European Union member state. The law also provides for specific rules for allocation and information of beneficiaries. Complementary texts are still expected to define the contribution limits of this new mechanism. The tax regime of this new device, on which management mandates can probably be grafted, will be defined in the context of the 2024 Finance Law project. This new Climate Savings Plan will enter into force on a date to be determined by decree and, in any case, no later than 1 July 2024.
Finally, the eligibility of AIFs to PEAs and, in particular, ELTIFs and capital investment funds is also broadened under certain conditions.