LA RESPONSABILITE CIVILE DES REGULATEURS EN VALEURS MOBILIERES : QUELLE PORTEE POUR LA MISSION DE PROTECTION DES INVESTISSEURS EN DROIT CIVIL?

Abstract

In the wake of the Norbourg scandal, civil actions were brought by some of the investors against the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) for being lax in its application of the law. Specifically, the actions blamed the AMF for not having detected or, ideally, prevented Norbourg’s fraudulent schemes. Because the cases were settled out of court, we were deprived of decisions dealing with a securities regulator’s civil liability, although there are some important decisions on this issue in the common law jurisdictions. This analysis explores the issues raised by the liability of securities regulators in civil law, looking specifically at the AMF. It highlights the political considerations and ties them to the conditions for finding that civil liability applies. It takes the view that the arguments against the regulators’ liability in common law also play a role in civil law, and are reflected in the conditions of the legal regime. For this reason, we advocate a narrow approach when applying the civil liability framework to regulators.