You have the visa, the rental contract, the removal van booked from Dover, and then a French bank tells you no. Since Brexit, British applicants hear this more often: extra identity checks, proof of address demanded in a format a newcomer cannot yet produce, files closed without explanation, and accounts shut at short notice when a compliance department reclassifies the customer. The refusal always feels personal. In French law it is a procedure, and the procedure has answers. Anyone domiciled in France who holds no deposit account there has a statutory right to one, the bank that refuses must give written reasons and an attestation on the spot, and the Banque de France will designate another bank which must open the account within three working days. Where the bank closes an existing account, it owes at least two months’ notice in writing, and courts have ordered designated banks that stall to open the account under penalty and to pay damages. This article explains, for a British reader, who exactly holds the right after Brexit, which papers to put on the counter, what to do the day a bank says no, and how judges treat closures without notice. Every French term is translated at first use, and every decisive statement is tied to the statute or decision that says it.

I. Opening a French account as a British resident: who must take you and what file to bring

The starting point is article L. 312-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code, the Code monétaire et financier, which states that “A droit à l’ouverture d’un compte de dépôt dans l’établissement de crédit de son choix, sous réserve d’être dépourvu d’un tel compte en France : 1° Toute personne physique ou morale domiciliée en France”. (article L. 312-1 du code monétaire et financier) In plain English: anyone domiciled in France who has no deposit account in France is entitled to have one opened at the bank of their choice. A British citizen living in France under a Withdrawal Agreement card, a long-stay visa or a residence permit is domiciled in France for this purpose, exactly like a French customer. The same paragraph extends the right to individuals legally resident in another European Union Member State acting outside a professional capacity, and to French nationals living outside France. That last extension matters by contrast: a British citizen who lives in the United Kingdom and merely owns a holiday home in France is not covered. France added non-resident French nationals, not non-resident Britons. If you live in Britain and want a French account for the house in the Dordogne, you have no statutory right to one, and the rest of this article’s designation procedure does not apply to you. Say so plainly at the counter rather than invoking a right you do not hold; the branch will deal with you under its commercial non-resident account policy instead.

European law points the same way. Directive 2014/92/EU on payment accounts requires Member States to ensure that banks do not discriminate against consumers legally resident in the Union by reason of nationality or residence when they apply for or access a payment account, and to guarantee those consumers a right to an account with basic features. The key phrase is legally resident. A Briton settled in France is inside the European protection; a Briton visiting from Kent is outside it. Where the protection applies, the directive requires the bank to decide on a complete application within ten business days at the latest. France goes further than that ceiling, as shown below: six working days to open, one working day for the Banque de France to designate, three working days for the designated bank to act.

A. The right itself: six working days, written reasons, and the refusal the bank must hand you

For individuals acting outside any professional need, the statute organises the opening itself. Once you have supplied every document the bank needs, “l’établissement procède à l’ouverture du compte de dépôt demandée par les personnes mentionnées au premier alinéa du présent II au plus tard dans les six jours ouvrés à compter de la réception de l’ensemble des pièces qui lui sont nécessaires à cet effet”. (article L. 312-1 du code monétaire et financier) Six working days from the complete file, the account must be opened. The bank may still say no, but a lawful refusal has a form. It must be supplied in writing, on paper, with the reasons stated, and it must mention the designation procedure described below. Silence counts too: the official service-public.fr guidance on refusal of account opening, verified on 28 October 2025, states that A bank that stays silent for 15 days is deemed to have refused, with time running from the acknowledgement of receipt of a posted application or from the date a hand-delivered request was lodged. A branch that keeps your file for three weeks and then claims it never received it has, in law, refused you, and that refusal opens the designation procedure.

The designated account is not a favour account. It carries the basic banking services, the services bancaires de base, whose content is fixed by decree D. 312-5 of the same code: “1° L’ouverture, la tenue et la clôture du compte ; 2° Un changement d’adresse par an ; 3° La délivrance à la demande de relevés d’identité bancaire ; 4° La domiciliation de virements bancaires ; 5° La fourniture mensuelle d’un relevé des opérations effectuées sur le compte ; 6° L’encaissement de chèques et de virements bancaires ; 7° Les paiements par prélèvements SEPA, titre interbancaire de paiement SEPA ou par virement bancaire SEPA, ce dernier pouvant être réalisé aux guichets ou à distance ; 8° Des moyens de consultation à distance du solde du compte ; 9° Les dépôts et les retraits d’espèces au guichet ou aux distributeurs automatiques de l’organisme teneur de compte ; 10° Une carte de paiement permettant notamment le paiement d’opérations sur internet et le retrait d’espèces dans l’Union européenne.” (article D. 312-5 du code monétaire et financier) Expect therefore a cash card with online payment and withdrawals across the Union, monthly statements, direct debits and remote balance access, not an overdraft, not a chequebook, not a premium card. The management of the account is then settled by a written agreement, and the statute expressly extends the whole mechanism to people registered in the Banque de France’s incident files: “Le présent article s’applique aux personnes inscrites aux fichiers gérés par la Banque de France en application de l’article L. 131-85 du présent code et de l’article L. 751-1 du code de la consommation.” (article L. 312-1 du code monétaire et financier) A cheque ban, an incident on a previous account, or a consumer-credit repayment file does not remove the right. Branches sometimes suggest otherwise. The paragraph says the opposite.

B. The file that avoids a refusal: address, identity and the non-resident trap

Most refusals of British applicants are not legal decisions at all. They are file decisions: the counter cannot verify who you are or where you live, so the file never becomes complete and the six-day clock never starts. Build the file the way a French branch reads it. Identity first: passport, plus your visa, residence permit or Withdrawal Agreement card. Newly arrived Britons sometimes present only the passport and are surprised to be asked for the titre de séjour, the residence permit. The permit is what proves lawful domicile, and domicile is what triggers the right, so carry it from the first appointment. Address second, and this is where newcomers fail most: a branch wants a justificatif de domicile, proof of address, typically a utility bill, a rent receipt or a housing tax notice in your name. If you are staying with family or friends while you settle, bring the attestation d’hébergement, the signed declaration by your host that you live under their roof, together with your host’s own identity document and proof of address. A hotel booking printout is not a proof of address. A removal-company invoice is not a proof of address. The attestation plus the host’s papers is the recognised substitute, and presenting it at the first meeting saves a second refusal.

The second trap concerns the British applicant who does not live in France. As established above, the statutory right requires domicile in France, and the Banque de France designation is closed to you. What remains is commercial: several French banks sell non-resident accounts, comptes non-résidents, usually with higher monthly fees, no authorised overdraft and no chequebook, and they will ask for British proof of address, evidence of the French property or project, and sometimes a minimum deposit or income. Compare two or three offers before signing, because tariffs differ widely and the fee schedule must in any event be disclosed in advance. And whichever route you take, remember the declaration that faces the other way. British residents of France must declare every bank account held abroad, including the British current account kept open in the United Kingdom, on the foreign-account form alongside the yearly income return. The mechanism is explained step by step in our guide to the first French tax return with its forms 2042, 2047 and 3916 and the treaty credit at https://kohenavocats.fr/en/2026/10/14/british-first-french-tax-return-2042-2047-3916-treaty-credit-challenge-brexit/, and the British government’s own Living in France guidance confirms the principle: residents must declare assets held outside France, expressly including bank accounts alongside securities, insurance, annuities and property, in a declaration that stands separate from the yearly tax return. The account you fight to open in France and the account you keep in Britain both create paperwork. Do both at once and neither will come back to trouble you.

II. Refused or shut out: the Banque de France designation and the two-month shield in court

A refusal is the beginning of a procedure, not the end of the story. French law gives you three successive levers: the written attestation the refusing bank must hand over immediately, the designation by the Banque de France within one working day, and the courts, which have repeatedly punished banks that stall or close accounts without the required notice. Each lever has its deadline, and each deadline is short. The applicant who moves within days gets an account within days. The applicant who waits months arguing at the counter gets sympathy and nothing else.

A. The designation procedure: the attestation, the fifteen days and the three-day opening

The statute organises the sequence in article L. 312-1 III. Where the chosen bank refuses, “celle-ci peut saisir la Banque de France afin qu’elle lui désigne un établissement de crédit situé à proximité de son domicile ou d’un autre lieu de son choix, en prenant en considération les parts de marché de chaque établissement concerné, dans un délai d’un jour ouvré à compter de la réception des pièces requises définies par arrêté”. (article L. 312-1 du code monétaire et financier) One working day from receipt of the required documents, the Banque de France designates a bank near your home or near any other place you choose, taking market shares into account so that the burden rotates among the networks. The refusing bank is not allowed to send you away empty-handed: “L’établissement de crédit qui a refusé l’ouverture d’un compte fournit au demandeur systématiquement, gratuitement et sans délai, sur support papier, et sur un autre support durable lorsque celui-ci en fait la demande expresse, une attestation de refus d’ouverture de compte et l’informe qu’il peut demander à la Banque de France de lui désigner un établissement de crédit pour lui ouvrir un compte.” (article L. 312-1 du code monétaire et financier) Ask for that attestation before leaving the branch, on paper, the same day. It is your ticket to the procedure, and the bank must also offer, for individuals, to forward the designation request to the Banque de France in your name and for your account, transmitting the required information itself. Social services, family allowance funds, municipal welfare centres, recognised consumer associations and qualifying charities may also transmit the request on your behalf, which helps newcomers with limited French.

Once designated, the bank has no discretion left: “Ils procèdent à l’ouverture du compte de dépôt dans les trois jours ouvrés à compter de la réception de l’ensemble des pièces qui lui sont nécessaires à cet effet.” (article L. 312-1 du code monétaire et financier) Three working days from the complete file. The official guidance summarises the same outcome: the Banque de France appoints a bank near the applicant’s home or chosen place, which must open a basic-services account. Applications can be filed at a Banque de France counter or through the online designation request service, and the documentary requirements are fixed by ministerial order, so check the current list before attending. Two practical points decide success. First, completeness: the three-day clock runs only from the complete file, and designated banks have learned to request one further document at a time. Arrive with the full set used at the first bank plus the refusal attestation, and answer any follow-up request the same day in writing. Second, the account agreement: management of the designated account is settled by a written convention, so read it before signing, particularly the tariff pages, because even basic-service accounts carry regulated charges that you will want to know. One exception survives even designation. Where the designated bank cannot complete its anti-money-laundering identification duties, it must not open the account at all: article L. 561-8 provides that “Le I s’applique également lorsqu’un établissement de crédit a été désigné par la Banque de France sur le fondement de l’article L. 312-1 et que l’établissement n’a pas pu satisfaire à l’une des obligations prévues à l’article L. 561-5 ou à l’article L. 561-5-1”, in which case it carries out no transaction and establishes no business relationship. The full text is consultable at https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000041577826. This is why identity documents must be current and consistent: the Versailles case above turned partly on a disputed date of birth, and a bank that genuinely cannot identify you is legally required to walk away. The banking accessibility charter, homologated by the Minister for the Economy, standardises the refusal attestation model and the transmission deadlines, and compliance is supervised by the prudential authority, the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution. A designated bank that lets your file sleep is not using a grey area. It is breaching a three-day statutory duty, and judges have said so in euros.

B. Closures without notice and designated banks that stall: what the courts actually award

The Versailles Court of Appeal gave the clearest illustration on 21 December 2023. The Crédit Agricole, designated by the Banque de France to open an account for the claimant, had failed to do so within the statutory time although it held every necessary document. The court held that the bank “avait commis une faute en n’y procédant pas dans les trois jours ouvrés à compter de la réception des justificatifs fournis par ce dernier alors qu’il disposait de l’ensemble des pièces nécessaires à l’ouverture d’un compte de dépôt en ses livres au nom de M [E], ce qui permettait de le condamner au paiement de la somme de 2.000 euros à titre de dommages et intérêts en réparation du préjudice subi par ce dernier et d’assortir d’une astreinte l’obligation d’ouverture de ce compte par la banque”. Two thousand euros in damages and a penalty order, an astreinte, compelling the opening itself. The decision, published under number 22/05426 and consultable at https://www.courdecassation.fr/decision/65855e98673fa80008f8ddb4, is the precedent to cite when a designated bank stalls: fault is established by the calendar alone once completeness is proved, and the remedy combines money with compulsion. Keep therefore the dated proof that your file was complete, ideally the bank’s own dated receipt or your bailiff-served letter listing the enclosed documents.

Closures of existing accounts obey a second shield: notice. For an ordinary indefinite-term deposit agreement, “L’établissement de crédit résilie une convention de compte de dépôt conclue pour une durée indéterminée moyennant un préavis d’au moins deux mois, fourni sur support papier ou sur un autre support durable.” (article L. 312-1-1 du code monétaire et financier) Two months minimum, on paper or another durable medium. The Paris Court of Appeal applied this on 10 May 2023 to a Société Générale closure, recalling that “les établissements de crédit ont la faculté discrétionnaire de résilier une convention de compte de dépôt souscrite, comme en l’espèce, pour une durée indéterminée moyennant un préavis d’au moins deux mois fourni sur support papier”. The bank may end the relationship without giving substantive reasons for an ordinary account, but it may not do so overnight. The full decision under number 22/05206 is consultable at https://www.courdecassation.fr/decision/645c88ca9925b3d0f8f8f50f. For accounts opened with basic services through the designation procedure, the shield is even stronger: the bank may terminate unilaterally only on one of six exhaustively listed grounds, including that “Le client a délibérément utilisé son compte de dépôt pour des opérations que l’organisme a des raisons de soupçonner comme poursuivant des fins illégales” and that “L’établissement est dans l’une des situations prévues à l’article L. 561-8”, the anti-money-laundering provision. Outside those grounds, including repeated rudeness towards staff, a second account opened later in France, or departure from the domicile condition, the designated account cannot be taken away. Any termination at the bank’s initiative “Toute résiliation à l’initiative de l’établissement de crédit fait l’objet d’un courrier sur support papier, envoyé gratuitement au client”, the decision is reasoned except where reasons would harm national security or public order, a copy goes to the Banque de France for information, “Un délai minimum de deux mois de préavis est octroyé au titulaire du compte, sauf dans les cas mentionnés au 1° et au 2°”, and “L’établissement informe le client, dans son courrier de résiliation, de l’existence d’un service de relations avec la clientèle et de la médiation pour traiter les litiges éventuels liés à la résiliation de la convention de compte de dépôt”. (article L. 312-1 du code monétaire et financier) A closure letter that contains no reasons, no notice period and no mention of mediation is defective on three visible points before any judge is even asked about the substance.

Two further decisions complete the picture, one comforting and one cautionary. The comforting one also speaks to British customers directly, because it concerns the French successor of a British bank. On 30 June 2022 the Paris Court of Appeal heard a customer complaining that Milleis Banque, which “vient aux droits de la société Barclays France”, had closed his account without the sixty-day notice and blocked debits and transfers. The court examined the statements and found “que la banque a respecté un préavis de 4 mois entre la dénonciation de la convention et la clôture du compte, soit un délai conforme à la réglementation applicable qui impose un délai minimum de deux mois”, adding that “M. [L] échoue donc à démontrer une quelconque faute de la société Milleis banque venant aux droits de la société Barclays France, sur un plan contractuel ou délictuel”. The account had in fact continued to operate normally between notice and closure, and the rejected debits came from insufficient funds, not from a block. The decision under number 19/18242, consultable at https://www.courdecassation.fr/decision/62be90a355cf2069b3661ccd, teaches the evidential discipline: download and preserve every statement from the notice date onwards, because the bank’s records will be examined movement by movement. The cautionary decision comes from the Montpellier Court of Appeal on 4 November 2025. The company showed that the bank had not proved two months’ notice before closing its debit account, yet it produced nothing proving the claimed loss, neither the alleged restorative transfer, nor the effect on named customers and suppliers, nor “le lien de causalité entre la faute de la banque et sa cessation d’activité sur l’année 2023”. The court therefore held that “la société RPM ne produit aucune pièce qui établirait la réalité du dommage allégué” and dismissed the damages claim despite the bank’s fault. The decision under number 24/04741 is consultable at https://www.courdecassation.fr/decision/690aee6c28bf9d42b6cc12a0. Fault without proved loss pays nothing. From the day a closure letter arrives, build the loss file in parallel with the legal challenge: refused direct debits with penalty invoices, replacement financing costs, correspondence with suppliers, dated screenshots of blocked access. Courts compensate documented euros, not frustration.

Conclusion

A British resident of France who is refused a bank account holds a dated, paper-based path to an account within days: written reasons and the refusal attestation on the spot, designation by the Banque de France within one working day, opening by the designated bank within three, with basic services fixed by decree and a two-thousand-euro precedent waiting for banks that stall. A British account holder whose bank closes the account holds a two-month shield, stronger still for designated accounts, which only six statutory grounds can lift. Neither path works without proof, and neither is open to the non-resident second-home owner, who must negotiate a commercial non-resident account and declare it properly. Check the current texts before acting, because tariffs, documentary orders and online filing routes change: the code provisions cited above at https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000044605348 for article L. 312-1, at https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000038614561 for article L. 312-1-1, and at https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000036769238 for article D. 312-5, the official refusal guidance at https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2417?lang=en, the Banque de France procedure at https://www.banque-france.fr/fr/a-votre-service/particuliers/droit-au-compte-bancaire, and the British guidance at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-france state the current position. The newcomer who arrives with passport, permit, proof of address and patience for forms gets the account. The holder who answers a closure letter with statements, invoices and deadlines keeps the money moving. In French banking law, the paper you keep is the right you keep.