{"id":2115225,"date":"2026-09-02T06:11:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T04:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/09\/02\/french-business-bank-fees-2027-foreign-owned-company-annual-statement\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T06:11:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T04:11:34","slug":"french-business-bank-fees-2027-foreign-owned-company-annual-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/02\/french-business-bank-fees-2027-foreign-owned-company-annual-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"French Business Bank Fees in 2027: What Foreign-Owned Companies Must Check in the Annual Fee Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"

A French company controlled by a foreign founder may soon receive a much clearer annual picture of its banking costs, but the change is narrower than many summaries suggest. As at 2 September 2026, the existing annual summary under the French Monetary and Financial Code is addressed to individuals and associations. Law no. 2026-403 of 26 May 2026 extends the annual document to qualifying microenterprises, while the common naming of major banking services starts on 1 January 2027. The extension to microenterprises is scheduled one year after promulgation, on 26 May 2027. It is therefore essential to distinguish a French subsidiary from its foreign parent, a bank account from a payment account, an information right from a fee cap, and a free account closure from the settlement of amounts already due. This guide explains how a foreign-owned SAS (simplified joint-stock company) or SARL (private limited liability company), a branch, or another French operating vehicle should identify the future right, reconcile the statement, and challenge an unexplained charge. It also sets out the evidence to preserve when the bank threatens access to payments or when the company is preparing to change banks. The broader framework for French company formation and corporate support<\/a> remains relevant because the bank contract, registration documents and representative\u2019s authority usually determine how quickly a dispute can be handled.<\/p>\n

I. What will the 2027 annual bank-fee statement change for a foreign-owned French company?<\/h2>\n

A. Which foreign-owned French companies qualify for the annual fee statement?<\/h3>\n

The first question is not whether the founder is British, American, Canadian, Swiss, Singaporean or resident outside France. The first question is which entity is the customer of the payment service provider and whether that entity falls within the statutory size category. A French subsidiary normally has its own legal personality. Its nationality is determined by its incorporation and legal seat, not by the nationality of the shareholder. The foreign parent may be the ultimate funder or controlling company, but it is not automatically the customer named in the French account agreement.<\/p>\n

That distinction matters for a French SAS and a French SARL. An SAS is a flexible company whose governance is organised largely through its articles of association; an SARL is a private limited liability company with a more prescribed management structure. Both can be owned by a foreign company or by a non-resident individual. A Kbis<\/em> is the official extract showing a company\u2019s registration details in the French Trade and Companies Register. The greffe<\/em> is the registry office attached to the relevant commercial court. The bank will often use the Kbis, the articles, the tax identification data and the representative\u2019s authority to identify the account holder. The ownership chain can be relevant to the bank\u2019s compliance review, but it does not by itself replace the French company as contracting party.<\/p>\n

Article 29 of Law no. 2026-403 changes Article L. 314-7 of the French Monetary and Financial Code by adding microenterprises to the beneficiaries of the annual summary. The official provision also expressly extends the common bank-fee terminology to professional users. The primary text is available in Article 29 of Law no. 2026-403 on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>. The timing is decisive. The law states: Le 2\u00b0 et le b du 3\u00b0 du I du pr\u00e9sent article entrent en vigueur le 1er janvier 2027.<\/q> The common terminology is therefore a January 2027 rule. It separately provides: Le a du 3\u00b0 et le 5\u00b0 du m\u00eame I entrent en vigueur un an apr\u00e8s la promulgation de la pr\u00e9sente loi.<\/q> The annual-summary extension for microenterprises is consequently a May 2027 rule, not a right that every foreign-owned company can necessarily demand in September 2026.<\/p>\n

The future category is not defined by the passport of the shareholder. It refers to the microenterprise concept in Article 51 of Law no. 2008-776, as amended by the simplification law. The official statistical definition in Decree no. 2008-1354 of 18 December 2008 on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a> describes the category as businesses that occupent moins de 10 personnes<\/q> and whose annual turnover or balance-sheet total does not exceed the applicable threshold. For a standard French company, the familiar figures are fewer than ten people and no more than two million euros of annual turnover or annual balance-sheet total. The future banking rule itself must be read with the version of the statutory definition applicable to the relevant territory and date. A founder should not rely on a marketing label such as \u201csmall business\u201d without checking the legal test.<\/p>\n

Group structure deserves particular care. A French subsidiary can be small in its own operations while being connected to a substantial foreign group. The correct classification may depend on the statutory definition and the way the relevant accounts, employees and linked enterprises are treated. The foreign parent\u2019s turnover is not automatically ignored, nor is it automatically added in every situation. Ask the accountant to document the classification used for the company at the date of the annual statement. Keep the group chart, headcount calculation, turnover or balance-sheet calculation and the latest accounts with the banking file. This turns an abstract eligibility argument into evidence that can be shown to the bank.<\/p>\n

A branch is different. A branch or permanent establishment may operate in France without creating a new company separate from the foreign legal person. The account agreement may therefore identify the foreign company, its French establishment, or both. That makes the wording of Article L. 314-7 and the future implementing practice especially important. A foreign company should ask the bank to identify the legal customer, the account type and the provision relied on before assuming that a French microenterprise right applies. If the banking relationship belongs to the foreign company rather than a French subsidiary, the result may not be the same.<\/p>\n

There is also a difference between a credit institution and an establishment that provides payment services. Article L. 314-1 defines a payment account as an account held in the name of one or more persons and used to execute payment transactions. The official wording begins: Est un compte de paiement, un compte d\u00e9tenu au nom de l’une ou de plusieurs personnes<\/q>. The definition is available in Article L. 314-1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code<\/a>. Many online business-account providers are payment institutions rather than banks. Their contract, safeguarding model, credit offering and account terminology may differ. A company should not infer from the expression \u201cbusiness account\u201d that every rule applicable to a deposit account at a bank applies in exactly the same way.<\/p>\n

Finally, the right to an annual document should not be confused with the right to open an account. Article L. 312-1 of the Code provides a right to a deposit account for a person physically or legally domiciled in France, subject to the statutory procedure. The text begins: A droit \u00e0 l’ouverture d’un compte de d\u00e9p\u00f4t … Toute personne physique ou morale domicili\u00e9e en France<\/q>, as shown in Article L. 312-1 on L\u00e9gifrance<\/a>. A French company may have a route to an account even though a particular bank refuses it, but that route does not decide whether a particular fee is lawful or whether the annual summary has already become due.<\/p>\n

B. What does the annual statement show, and what does it not change?<\/h3>\n

The annual document is a reconciliation tool. Under the current version of Article L. 314-7, the summary is supplied during January and covers the sums collected in the previous calendar year for products and services used in the management of the payment or deposit account. It distinguishes each category of product or service, the subtotal of fees and the number of products or services concerned. The current text expressly says: La fourniture des informations pr\u00e9vues au pr\u00e9sent chapitre s’effectue sans frais pour l’utilisateur de services de paiement.<\/q> The official provision is Article L. 314-7 of the French Monetary and Financial Code<\/a>. The future extension to qualifying microenterprises should make this document available to a much wider population of small French companies, but the content still has to be read against the account contract and the payment-service rules.<\/p>\n

For the director of a foreign-owned company, the practical value is not merely the total at the bottom. The statement should help answer four questions:<\/p>\n