A foreign auction house is considering a consignment from a French company. A London gallery is about to sell a work to a French corporate buyer. A Swiss dealer needs to establish who ultimately controls a French counterparty before completing its KYC.
In each case, identifying the company itself may not be enough. The professional may also need to identify its ultimate beneficial owner, or UBO.
France maintains a Registre des bénéficiaires effectifs — the French Beneficial Ownership Register, generally referred to as the RBE. Access to that register has changed significantly in recent years.
For foreign auction houses, galleries, dealers and art advisers conducting KYC or enhanced due diligence on a French counterparty, however, beneficial ownership information may still be accessible.
Fournol & Associés regularly acts as French counsel for international art-market professionals involved in transactions with a connection to France. Our wider experience in such transactions is presented in our Art Market practice.
Is the French Beneficial Ownership Register public?
Not in the way it once was.
General public access to French beneficial ownership information was restricted from 31 July 2024. This development followed the 22 November 2022 judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning unrestricted public access to beneficial ownership information.
The current French framework is now contained principally in the French Monetary and Financial Code. Article L. 561-46-2 provides access to specified beneficial ownership information for persons who can demonstrate a legitimate interest in preventing or combating money laundering, predicate offences or terrorist financing.
The practical consequence for an international transaction is important. Basic information about a French company remains relatively easy to obtain. Information concerning the individuals ultimately owning or controlling that company follows a separate access regime.
Can a foreign auction house or gallery have a legitimate interest?
Potentially, yes.
This is one of the most useful features of the current regime for foreign professionals conducting KYC on a French counterparty.
Article L. 561-46-2 expressly provides that natural or legal persons likely to enter into a business relationship with a third-party company or entity and seeking to prevent money-laundering, terrorist-financing or predicate-offence risks are presumed to have a legitimate interest in accessing the relevant beneficial ownership information.
This wording can be directly relevant to the art market.
A foreign auction house considering a consignment from a French company, a gallery preparing a substantial sale to a French corporate purchaser or a dealer entering into a transaction with a French intermediary may therefore have grounds for requesting access.
The existence of a legitimate interest does not, however, mean unrestricted access to the entire French register. The applicant needs to demonstrate the purpose of the request and its connection with the company or entity concerned.
Why does the context of the transaction matter?
KYC is not conducted in the abstract.
A request for beneficial ownership information will be easier to understand where it relates to an identified transaction and a specific French counterparty.
For example, a foreign auction house may need to know who ultimately controls the French company consigning an artwork. A gallery may need to identify the natural person behind a French acquisition vehicle. A foreign compliance team may have received corporate documents that do not clearly identify who ultimately owns or controls the entity.
These situations are consistent with the broader purpose of counterparty due diligence.
Fournol & Associés already advises foreign auction houses, galleries, dealers and collectors on French and cross-border transactions, as explained in the Firm’s international Art Market practice.
What information can the French register provide?
The information accessible under Article L. 561-46-2 may include the beneficial owner’s name, first names, month and year of birth, nationality and country of residence.
It can also include information relating to the ownership chain, historical data and the nature and extent of the beneficial interests held in the company or entity.
For an international KYC process, this information can help answer several questions.
Does the individual identified by the French counterparty correspond with the person declared in France? Does the ownership structure provided to the foreign professional appear consistent with French records? Has the structure changed? Does the person negotiating the transaction appear to control the entity involved?
The register does not answer every question. But it can provide an important independent source against which information supplied by the counterparty can be checked.
Where can information about a French company be checked?
Beneficial ownership should not be the first or only check.
France maintains the Registre national des entreprises, or RNE, through which official information concerning French businesses can be consulted. The French National Business Register can provide an initial source for checking the identity and registration of a French company.
Depending on the company and the documents available, a foreign professional may be able to confirm its legal name, corporate form, registered office, registration details and information concerning its representatives.
Those checks should then be compared with the documents received during the transaction.
A company can exist perfectly validly while the person dealing with the foreign auction house does not have authority to represent it. Likewise, establishing the company’s identity does not establish the identity of its ultimate beneficial owner.
Is the beneficial ownership register enough to complete KYC?
Usually not.
A beneficial ownership search forms only one part of a counterparty due diligence exercise.
The foreign professional may also need to establish:
- the exact legal identity of the French company;
- whether it remains active;
- its registered office;
- the identity and authority of the person acting for it;
- the identity of its beneficial owner;
- the relationship between the company and the proposed transaction;
- and the consistency between the contracting party, the owner of the artwork and the person making or receiving payment.
The importance of this broader analysis is particularly clear in international art transactions, where collectors may use companies, family structures, advisers and intermediaries in several jurisdictions.
Our related publication, “How to Conduct KYC on a French Art Buyer or Seller”, addresses this broader counterparty due diligence process. Once published, I would place the internal link directly on that title.
What if the French register and the documents provided do not match?
A discrepancy does not automatically indicate wrongdoing.
Corporate structures change. A declaration may require updating. A transaction may follow a restructuring. The documents supplied to the foreign professional may pre-date a transfer of shares.
But the discrepancy should be understood before the transaction proceeds.
For example, if a French company states that one individual ultimately controls it while the French beneficial ownership information identifies another person, the professional may need further corporate documents or an explanation of the change.
The objective is not simply to accumulate documents.
Effective KYC requires consistency between the documents, the persons involved and the economic reality of the transaction.
Why is beneficial ownership particularly important in the art market?
International art transactions can involve several layers.
A corporate vehicle may purchase the work. A collector may stand behind that company. An art adviser may negotiate the acquisition. Another person may bid. A different entity may ultimately provide the funds.
The same complexity can arise on the seller’s side.
In its 2026 analysis of money-laundering risks in the art market, Tracfin highlighted characteristics including international transactions, multiple intermediaries and confidentiality. These features help explain why understanding who ultimately stands behind a transaction can become central to KYC.
Foreign professionals conducting transactions in France should therefore distinguish between the legal counterparty and the natural person ultimately owning or controlling that counterparty.
This distinction is particularly important where the buyer, bidder and payer are not the same person. Our related publication “The Buyer, Bidder and Payer Are Not the Same Person: KYC Issues in French Art Transactions” examines that situation specifically.
What can French counsel add to the process?
A foreign compliance team will generally know what information it needs.
The difficulty is often obtaining and interpreting the French part of the file.
French counsel can help establish which corporate sources are relevant, review French-language documents, assess authority to act, understand the beneficial ownership structure and identify inconsistencies requiring further enquiries.
This is consistent with the wider role Fournol & Associés performs as French specialist counsel within international teams, described in our Art Market practice.
The Firm’s wider work also includes anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing compliance, alongside auction law, contract law, criminal law and other areas relevant to art-market transactions, as reflected in the Firm overview.
An article written by Alexis Fournol, Attorney at the Paris Bar and Partner at the firm.
How Fournol & Associés can assist
Fournol & Associés advises foreign auction houses, galleries, dealers, art advisers, collectors and their legal and compliance teams on the French aspects of international art transactions.
Where KYC concerns a French company or counterparty, the Firm can assist with:
- identifying and reviewing French corporate information;
- analysing the authority of persons acting for French entities;
- examining beneficial ownership documentation;
- assisting with issues concerning access to French beneficial ownership information;
- reviewing French-language corporate and KYC documents;
- identifying inconsistencies requiring additional enquiries;
- and communicating with the French counterparty or its advisers where appropriate.
The Firm does not replace the foreign professional’s own compliance function or determine the AML requirements applicable under foreign law.
Its role is to provide the French legal and documentary component of the due diligence process.
For more information about our work for international professionals and collectors, see our Art Market practice and the Firm’s international practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the French Beneficial Ownership Register public?
Not generally. Public access was restricted in 2024. French law now provides access to specified categories of persons, including persons capable of demonstrating the legitimate interest required by Article L. 561-46-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code.
Can a foreign auction house request information about the beneficial owner of a French company?
Potentially, yes. French law expressly contemplates persons likely to enter into a business relationship with a third-party company and seeking to prevent AML/CFT or related criminal risks. The circumstances of the request remain important.
Does an RBE search replace other KYC checks?
No. Beneficial ownership is only one part of due diligence. The professional may also need to verify corporate identity, authority to act, the structure of the transaction and the consistency of the information provided.
Can French counsel assist a foreign professional with KYC on a French company?
Yes. French counsel can assist with corporate information, beneficial ownership questions, authority to act, French documentation and discrepancies requiring further enquiries.
This publication provides general information on French law and does not constitute legal advice. Access rights and KYC requirements depend on the circumstances of each transaction.
