Setting up a family office in Monaco: the two routes, and what a single family office still needs
We test the track, then prepare the constitution file, the competence evidence and, where Art. 1 b) is reached, the licence file.
- A SAM and nothing else (Art. 2)
- Ministerial decree; the CCAF licence only under Art. 4
- Shareholders and managers tested against O.S. n° 6.271
- No period in Loi n° 1.439, so we promise none
What a Monaco family office is under Loi n° 1.439, and what we prepare
Loi n° 1.439 of 2 December 2016 defines the activity: wealth-related and financial advice and services supplied à titre de profession habituelle (as a habitual profession) to families and their entities (Art. 1 al. 1). Licensed, it may receive and transmit orders and advise; portfolio and fund management, execution and dealing stay outside, with getting a CCAF licence for portfolio or fund management in Monaco (Art. 1 b).
The authorisation is its own instrument: prior, administrative, by arrêté ministériel (ministerial decree), to sociétés anonymes monégasques alone (Art. 2 al. 1). It is not the autorisation d'exercer behind setting up a business in Monaco, though Loi n° 1.144 Art. 8 still catches advice.
What is included, track by track
The scope test. Multi or single, and whether the object reaches Art. 1 b).
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in a private capacity? Yes leads to the single-family branch
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labelled "outside Loi n° 1.439
Loi n° 1.439
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and outside that law only" (Art. 1 last al.). Node 2: supplied as a habitual profession to more than one family? (Art. 1 al. 1). Node 3: does the object include
Art. 1
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or advice and assistance
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under Loi n° 1.338 Art. 1 3° and 4°? No leads to Art. 3
Loi n° 1.338
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yes to Art. 4. A permanently excluded branch: portfolio management
Art. 4
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Monegasque and foreign fund management
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execution of orders
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own-account dealing. Footer: the law defines neither famille nor à titre privé
Art. 1, drawn as the test it is
The Art. 3 track. The constitution file, the mention in the company name, an object clear of the two financial activities, competence evidence, the shareholding cap.
The Art. 4 track. The same, plus the CCAF agrément (licence) file, two ROSGs, capital in cash.
The single-family track. A scoping memorandum over Loi n° 1.573, Loi n° 1.144 and Loi n° 1.338, then the files it calls for.
Premises and permanent duties. An address a regulated activity may occupy, the insurance, the prior-approval file for changes.
Where we stop. Not the Minister of State, not the Commission, never a shareholder, dirigeant or administrator. Digital assets have their own statutes; a bill proposes moving that licensing to the CCAF: getting licensed as a digital-asset provider in Monaco.
The two routes side by side: Art. 3 and Art. 4
Art. 2 subjects the activity to a prior administrative authorisation, by ministerial decree, open only to a SAM; Art. 1 b) draws the line between the routes.
| Question | Art. 3 route | Art. 4 route |
|---|---|---|
| Who authorises | The Minister of State, by ministerial decree (Art. 2 al. 1). The Commission has no role at all | The same decree, and in addition the CCAF agrément (Art. 4 al. 1) |
| What the object may include | Wealth advice, planning and organisation, administrative and financial follow-up, coordination of outside providers and review of their performance (Art. 1 a) | The same, plus reception and transmission of orders and advice and assistance (Loi n° 1.338, Art. 1 3° and 4°) |
| Company form | Société anonyme monégasque only (Art. 2 al. 1) | The same, and expressly exempt from the exclusive corporate object (Loi n° 1.338, Art. 6 1°) |
| Minimum capital | The general SAM floor of EUR 150,000 (Loi n° 1.573, Art. 15); Loi n° 1.439 and O.S. n° 6.271 set none | EUR 300,000 entirely paid up in cash: the band O.S. n° 1.284 Art. 1 3° sets for activities 3), 4) and 5), applied here by our reading of two statutes |
| Published decision period | None in Loi n° 1.439. The general SAM clock is five working days, then 45 days, extendable once by 45 at most (Loi n° 1.573, Art. 13) | Six months from receipt of a complete file (Loi n° 1.338, Art. 7 al. 2) |
| A change of shareholder, dirigeant or administrator | Prior agrément by decision of the Minister of State, on pain of revocation (Art. 3 al. 2) | Communicated to the Commission under Loi n° 1.338 Art. 8 (Art. 4 al. 2) |
| Who supervises | Under Loi n° 767 of 8 July 1964 (Art. 5) | The same, and the Commission for the financial activities (Art. 5) |
| What never stops | Insurance, remuneration from the client only, secrecy, AML obligations | The same, plus AMAF membership, staff certification, two auditors, the annual report within four months, own funds at every year-end |
Two routes, two authorities, one company form.
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the Government's administrative authorisation by ministerial decree
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the competence conditions of O.S. n° 6.271
O.S. n° 6.271
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the general SAM floor of EUR 150,000 with the paid-up reading marked open
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prior approval of every change by the Minister of State on pain of revocation
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supervision under Loi n° 767. Lane B (Art. 4): the same decree plus the CCAF agrément
Loi n° 767.
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EUR 300,000 fully paid up in cash marked "our reading of two statutes"
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changes communicated to the Commission under Loi n° 1.338 Art. 8
Loi n° 1.338
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supervision under Loi n° 767 and by the Commission for the financial activities. Shared spine: a SAM and nothing else
Loi n° 767
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the mention in the name
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remuneration from the client only
Statutory periods only; no total exists
The Commission does not authorise the activity as such: the authorisation is the decree of Art. 2, and the agrément is needed only where the object reaches Art. 1 b).
The company may not be majority-held by a credit institution, or by a body carrying on portfolio management or Monegasque or foreign fund management (Art. 2 al. 3).
EUR 300,000 is no figure of Loi n° 1.439: it is the band O.S. n° 1.284 Art. 1 3° fixes for activities 3), 4) and 5), reaching an Art. 4 company because it stays subject to the implementing texts of Loi n° 1.338. That step is our reading.
The mention "multi family office" enters the constitution authorisation and the company name (Art. 2 al. 2), where the name meets trademark registration Monaco: the designation is protected.
Remuneration comes directly and exclusively from the client (Art. 7), so no retrocession from a bank, a manager or a product provider.
Who may hold the shares and run the company
Art. 3 al. 1 puts the test on people: competence and good character, set by sovereign ordinance, for the shareholders and for anyone with power to direct or administer. O.S. n° 6.271 of 13 February 2017 gives three alternatives.
| Alternative | What it requires | Who must satisfy it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The degree route | A licence-level national degree in law or economics, or a legal, economic or business degree of equal or higher level, or an accounting and management diploma | Each shareholder, and each natural person with power to direct or administer | O.S. n° 6.271, with Loi n° 1.439 Art. 3 al. 1 |
| The technical diploma route | A DUT or a BTS, and three years of professional experience in one of those fields or in a family office | The same persons | O.S. n° 6.271 |
| The experience route | Five years of professional experience in an employment as a cadre (manager grade) in one of those fields or in a family office | The same persons | O.S. n° 6.271 |
| Bonne moralité | Good character, required in every case, in addition to the competence condition | The same persons | O.S. n° 6.271 |
The conditions, in the ordinance's own terms.
The shell is the ordinary SAM of Loi n° 1.573: two shareholders and two administrators at least, with mandate caps of twelve boards and eight as president (Arts. 22, 26). How a corporate shareholder meets a condition written for natural persons is stated nowhere we read.
How the files run, and the only periods the law publishes
1. The scope test. One family or several, habitual profession or not, and whether the object reaches Art. 1 b). No period is published.
2. Structure and people. A SAM, an object drafted to the route, ownership inside the majority cap, competence evidence for everyone named.
3. Premises. Outside the business-centre formulas, which exclude regulated activities: 25 m² at least.
4. The Government file. The general SAM clock: five working days, then 45, extendable once (Loi n° 1.573, Art. 13). Whether its tacit grant reaches an authorisation carrying the MFO mention is stated nowhere we read.
5. In parallel on the Art. 4 route. Meeting, filing, examination, presentation, decision: the licence file costs EUR 0, and six months run from a complete one. Silence is not ruled on.
6. Publicity and registration. Three months from the decree's publication for the formalities and the RCI entry (Art. 20). Insurance for the dirigeants and administrators, provable at any time, no minimum set.
7. Then, permanently. No change of shareholder, dirigeant or administrator without the Minister of State's prior agrément, the shareholder first; the administrator's RCI file carries that authorisation or the licence. See Company in Monaco: Company Changes and Share Transfers in Monaco.
No total is published, and none is given here; the market puts an ordinary SAM at four to six months [market: 2026-09-08].
Not sure whether your object reaches the two financial activities?
Send the intended services and who receives them.
What the files contain, and what the Government publishes no list for
The Art. 4 licence file describes:
- The shareholding.
- The managers.
- The activities planned.
- The means, human resources in particular.
- Any delegations.
- The handling of orders.
- The procedures for carrying on the activities and for controlling them.
- An attestation de non-procédure from each shareholder and each manager.
- Anything further the Commission asks for.
Beside it: a financial guarantee, premises and staff, and two responsables de l'orientation stratégique et de la gestion the Commission approves. For an Art. 3 file no procedure page is published.
A single family office: what the carve-out does, and what it does not
Art. 1 last al. says that family office activities between members of one family, in a private capacity, are not covered by Loi n° 1.439. It defines neither famille nor à titre privé. These regimes may still apply.
| Regime | What it may require | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loi n° 1.439 | Nothing: the private single-family activity is outside this law | Art. 1 last al. | Settled |
| Any SAM, including one with an exclusively civil object | The constitution authorisation; a civil-object SAM is also governed by the Code civil and Loi n° 797 | Loi n° 1.573, Arts. 11 and 67 | Settled |
| Foreign natural persons and foreign partners | An administrative authorisation to carry on an independent professional activity | Loi n° 1.144, Arts. 5 al. 1 and 7 | Settled |
| An administrative or representative office of a foreign-seated family holding | An authorisation; group functions only, no commercial activity, taxed on a notional base of 40% of annual operating expenditure as published practice | Loi n° 1.144, Art. 5 al. 2; government procedure page | Settled on the authorisation, silent on the use |
| Advice or assistance in legal, tax, financial or stock-exchange matters, and wealth management with power of disposal | An authorisation, even for a Monegasque national | Loi n° 1.144, Art. 8 | Settled |
| Portfolio management "pour le compte de tiers", habitually or professionally | The CCAF licence; the only exemption read is written for legal persons, not for natural persons | Loi n° 1.338, Arts. 1 and 2 | Open, counsel |
| Substance | Premises and staff allowing real activity, failing which the authorisation may be suspended or revoked | Loi n° 1.144, Art. 9 8° | Settled |
| AML | Loi n° 1.362 Art. 1 names multi family offices at 19°, and the copy read has no entry for single family offices | Loi n° 1.362, Art. 1 | Settled on the text, untested on a given structure |
One carve-out, and the regimes it leaves standing.
On an office of a foreign family holding, see the Monegasque bureau administratif: no text says a family holding may use that form so. Two questions go to counsel: whether a family's own company managing family members' portfolios acts "for third parties", and whether a private family office is a professional activity under Loi n° 1.144.
Problems we solve
The title is protected. Using "multi family office", or "MFO", without the authorisation the law requires carries six days to three months' imprisonment plus the Code pénal Art. 26 4° fine of EUR 18,000 to 90,000 (Art. 8).
You cannot quietly buy one. Every change of shareholder needs the Minister of State's prior approval on pain of revocation, or goes to the Commission: the lawful route is existing Monegasque companies for sale, with the buyer's own file. A lent name is an offence for both sides.
Substance and tax. No premises or staff allowing real activity is a revocation ground. The profits tax reaches an activity realising at least 25% of turnover outside Monaco, and its exemption covers persons effectively and really established here: a Monegasque residence permit.
The register settles nothing. An Art. 4 company is on the Commission's list, an Art. 3 company gazetted rather than listed, single family offices nowhere: hence no count here.
Ready to test the structure against the statute?
Tell us who the office will serve.
Why work with us
Julien Rossi, tax, licensing and compliance lead, thirteen years, the last seven on Monaco; French, English, German.
From our practice: preparing licence applications for the Commission and for digital-asset activities, and answering the compliance questions an institution asks first.
Prepared by Julien Rossi · Reviewed by Camille Perrin · Updated {{BUILD_DATE}}
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Send the plan and we map the track, the form and the file.
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Tell us the activity, where it will be carried on and who will run it. One of us reads it and comes back with the questions the authorisation file will ask. Our fees are on request.
The authorisation is personal and non-transferable, and it names the activity and the premises. Nothing on this site is sold ready to trade.
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