Financial services licence in Monaco: the CCAF agrément
We map the activities, fix the capital band and the form, and build the file.
- Four capital bands, EUR 150,000 to EUR 1.9 million (O.S. n° 1.284, Art. 1)
- A SAM, or a foreign credit institution's branch, nothing else (Art. 3)
- Six months from a complete file (Art. 7 al. 2)
- The agrément is free; what follows it is not
What a CCAF licence is, and what we do
A CCAF licence (agrément) and the Government's constitution authorisation are two instruments, two authorities, two clocks. Loi n° 1.338 of 7 September 2007 gives the first to the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières. Advice, brokerage and portfolio management with power of disposal need an authorisation even for Monegasque nationals (Loi n° 1.144, Art. 8). The ordinary chain is Company in Monaco: Company Registration in Monaco.
We prepare and steer the file: scope, form, capital band, governance, the nine statutory items. The Commission was instituted in 2007 and acts "en toute indépendance" (Art. 10). A credit institution needs the French ACPR too.
What is included
Six blocks of work, in the file's order.
The scope test. The business mapped onto the seven activities of Art. 1, and tested against the exemption of Art. 2.
The form and the object. A SAM or a foreign credit institution's Monaco branch, with an objet social exclusif (exclusive corporate object) in the first statutes.
The capital band. The band the activities trigger, the reduction where a bank or insurer holds half, the evidence of cash payment.
The governance. Two responsables de l'orientation stratégique et de la gestion (ROSGs) and their approval files, three levels of control, the delegations, the depositary.
The file and the meeting. The nine statutory items of O.S. n° 1.284, Art. 3, and the presentation meeting with the General Secretariat.
Where we stop. Not the CCAF: no grant, no acceleration, no guarantee. Not the ACPR. Never a ROSG seat, never a lent name.
The seven licensable activities, and the capital each one needs
Art. 1 lists seven activities carried on à titre habituel ou professionnel; one licence may cover all or some (Art. 4). Capital comes from Ordonnance Souveraine n° 1.284 of 10 September 2007, Art. 1, in four bands.
| Activity (Loi n° 1.338, Art. 1) | In plain English | Minimum capital | Band (O.S. n° 1.284, Art. 1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1° gestion de portefeuilles pour compte de tiers | Managing third parties' portfolios | EUR 450,000 | Band 1° |
| 2° Management of Monegasque collective investment schemes | Running a Monegasque fund | EUR 150,000 where managed fund assets are under EUR 250 million, plus EUR 40,000 per further tranche of EUR 200 million | Band 2° |
| 3° Reception and transmission of orders | Taking a client order and passing it on | EUR 300,000 | Band 3° |
| 4° Advice and assistance in those matters | Advising without executing | EUR 300,000 | Band 3° |
| 5° Execution of orders | Executing orders for clients | EUR 300,000 | Band 3° |
| 6° Management of foreign-law collective investment schemes | Running a fund constituted abroad | EUR 450,000 | Band 1° |
| 7° Négociation pour compte propre | Dealing on own account | EUR 1.9 million | Band 4° |
O.S. n° 1.284, Art. 1, read 2026-09-19.
- EUR 150,000 (band 2°, Monegasque schemes under EUR 250 million of fund assets, plus EUR 40,000 per further EUR 200 million), EUR 300,000 (band 3°, activities 3° Loi n° 1.573
- the reduction to EUR 150,000 where a credit institution or insurer holds 50% with at least EUR 2 million of its own capital
- capital fully paid up in cash. Footer: activities are numbered 1° to 7° in the law, bands 1° to 4° in the ordinance
O.S. n° 1.284, Art. 1, with Loi n° 1.338, Art. 6, read 2026-09-19
With several activities in one licence the highest amount prevails, the Commission's FAQ says; for funds offered only in Monaco the same page gives, by reference to O.S. n° 1.285, Art. 32, EUR 150,000 or 0.5% of managed assets, capped at EUR 750,000. The EUR 450,000 and EUR 300,000 bands fall to EUR 150,000 where a credit institution, insurer or reinsurer holds 50% and has at least EUR 2 million of its own.
The capital is fully paid up in cash, the object exclusive (Art. 6), and own funds must match the band at every year-end (Art. 22). Run only for the companies that control the firm and those they control, the activity needs no licence (Art. 2).
Digital-asset services are not on this list: they have their own statutes, and a bill proposes to move that licensing to the CCAF, which is the crypto licence guide. A multi family office whose object covers activities 3° or 4° needs this licence, one that excludes them does not: Company in Monaco: Family Office in Monaco.
Who may hold a licence, and what the Commission must be satisfied of
Art. 3 says who may hold it, Art. 5 what they must satisfy.
A SAM, and nothing smaller. No SARL, no SURL: the form is the Monegasque SAM, whose own EUR 150,000 floor sits beneath every band above.
Or a credit institution's branch. Art. 3 opens that route to foreign-seated credit institutions only, and to no one else.
A sufficient financial guarantee. Judged on the providers of capital, direct and indirect, whose identity and stake are disclosed (Art. 5 1°).
Integrity, experience and competence. Of the managers (Art. 5 2°), with at least two ROSGs at all times, each approved by the Commission (the CCAF's conditions).
Premises and staff. "Une installation et un personnel" able to carry on the activities (Art. 5 3°). People have to be here: residency in Monaco. No statutory residence rule for a ROSG was found, and none is stated.
How the application runs, and the two clocks
Seven steps, with the periods the law publishes.
| Authority | Instrument | What it decides | Published period |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCAF | The agrément under Loi n° 1.338 | Whether the firm may carry on the listed activities | Six months from a complete file (Art. 7 al. 2) |
| The Government, through the Direction du Développement Économique | The autorisation administrative of the SAM | Whether the company may be constituted at all | 5 working days, then 45 days, one extension of 45 days at most (Loi n° 1.573, Art. 13) |
| ACPR (France) | Banking authorisation | The banking activities of a credit institution | None stated here: no ACPR text was read for this page |
Three authorisations kept apart; AMAF membership follows the grant (Art. 21).
- 01
presentation meeting
- 02
the Commission
- 03
decision marked "within six months of a complete file"
Art. 7
- 04
with an open end labelled "the statute is silent on what happens after". Lane 2
- 05
the Government: 5 working days to the admissibility notice, 45 days to the decision
- 06
one extension of 45 days at most
- 07
tacit grant of that lane only
- 08
then the three-month publicity and registration block (Loi n° 1.573, Arts. 13 and 20). A third
Loi n° 1.573
- 09
unmeasured note for credit institutions: an ACPR authorisation as well. Footer: the lanes may run in parallel
- 10
whether the decree waits for the CCAF is not published
Statutory periods, not delivery dates; no total is published
1. Scope and form. Which activities apply, whether Art. 2 exempts an intragroup arrangement, and whether the shell is a SAM or a branch. No period published.
2. Capital and shareholding. The band, the shareholding and the cash payment, fixed before the statutes are drafted.
3. The presentation meeting. An appointment with the General Secretariat, first of the five steps the Commission publishes. No period published for it.
4. Filing. The nine statutory items go in, at no charge.
5. Examination and decision. Examination by the Secretariat, presentation to the members, then the decision, within six months of a complete file (Art. 7 al. 2). The CCAF says an applicant hears back sooner absent special remarks. The statute does not say what follows if the six months pass.
6. In parallel, the Government's file. Loi n° 1.573 of 8 April 2025, Art. 13: five working days to the admissibility notice, 45 days to the decision, one extension of 45 days at most, silence granting it. That tacit rule is this clock's alone; whether the decree waits for the CCAF is not published.
7. Grant, gazette and record. The grant is gazetted in the Journal de Monaco (Art. 9), the firm joins the Commission's list, the SAM's publicity and registration block runs three months from the decree, and the licence belongs in the RCI file when an administrator is appointed.
Not sure which of the seven activities your business falls under?
Tell us what the firm will do, for whom, and with whose money.
What the application file contains
The nine items of O.S. n° 1.284, Art. 3, in the ordinance's order.
- The providers of capital, direct and indirect, and their stakes.
- The building, and the company's right over it.
- Activities, instruments, markets and commercial policy.
- The two persons who effectively determine the orientation and the management.
- Headcount, with a detailed organisation chart.
- The delegations.
- The intermediaries used to execute orders.
- The monitoring and control procedures.
- The model management mandates.
A manager of foreign-law schemes adds data on the schemes, the depositary and the clientele, and the Commission may ask for more: "complete" starts the six months.
After the licence: what is owed, and when
The agrément is free, and the Commission is funded from a chapter of the State budget (Art. 11-4). That no levy was found is not proof that none exists, and AMAF dues were not researched.
| Obligation | Period or deadline | Article | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual activity report and the auditors' attestation to the CCAF | Four months from the financial year-end | Art. 30 | |
| Annual accounts and audit reports | Fifteen days after their approval | Art. 30 | |
| Own funds at least equal to the band's minimum capital | At every financial year-end | Art. 22 | The capital is locked, not parked |
| Own funds never below a quarter of last year's administrative costs | Where units of the products are offered outside Monaco | O.S. Art. 2 | |
| Two commissaires aux comptes from the roll of the Order | Three consecutive financial years | Art. 31 | A branch appoints one |
| AMAF membership | From the grant | Art. 21 | Compulsory for every licensed company |
| Two professional certifications, at the firm's cost | No period published | Art. 23 al. 2; O.S. Art. 9-3 | No exemption for the ethics or the ESG part; staff in post before 2 May 2014, and internal-control staff with five years in post on 11 February 2023, are grandfathered |
| Records, telephone conversations and electronic communications included | Five years | O.S. Art. 12-5; Art. 23-2 | |
| Prior authorisation of any change to a characteristic element of the file | Before the change | Art. 8 | The Commission may require a new licence |
The year after a grant, deadline by deadline, with its article.
Client money and securities never sit on the firm's own books (Art. 24). They go to a depositary credit institution the Commission may require to be in Monaco (Art. 27), with separate accounts where both services run for one client. Activities may be delegated, never all of them, and delegating transfers no responsibility (O.S. Art. 4).
The licence goes on commercial documents, but advertising it as a label of management quality is strictly forbidden (Art. 29-2), worth settling before registering a trade mark with the Monegasque IP office. Since the communiqué of 17 April 2026, statute updates touching the capital, the object or the direction need prior approval, so buying SAM shares in Monaco buys the company, not the licence.
Problems we solve
No licence, a criminal offence. Art. 43: carrying on, or attempting, a listed activity without an agrément draws one to five years' imprisonment and the fine of Code pénal Art. 26 4°, EUR 18,000 to 90,000, raisable to the profit made.
A borrowed name solves nothing. The providers of capital and the two managers are named in the file and the ROSGs approved by the Commission. Lending a name is an offence for both sides: a fine of EUR 18,000 to 90,000 (Loi n° 1.144, Art. 15).
A Monaco licence is not an EU passport. Monaco is a third State to the European Union: the agrément carries nothing into EU markets, and MiCA does not apply of its own force. No tax figure appears here: that is taxes for foreigners in Monaco.
The register settles it. Grant and revocation are gazetted (Art. 9), and the Commission publishes the list of authorised firms with the activities each is authorised for, dated as of 30 June 2026.
Ready to build the licence file?
Send the activity, the shareholders and the managers, and we map the band and the file.
Why work with us
Julien Rossi, tax, licensing and compliance lead, thirteen years, the last seven on Monaco; French, English, German.
From our practice: CCAF and digital-asset licence applications prepared, who may lawfully sign off the accounts mapped, and the compliance questions a Monegasque institution asks answered.
Prepared by Julien Rossi · Reviewed by Camille Perrin · Updated {{BUILD_DATE}}
Start the file
Tell us what the firm will do and we will map the activity, the band and the file.
Start your Monaco file
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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