Section 5: Membership and operation of professional associations of banking and payment services intermediaries

I.-For the purposes of their registration in the register referred to in I of Article L. 546-1, the banking and payment services intermediaries referred to in Article L. 519-1 and their agents shall join an approved professional association responsible for monitoring the activity and providing support for its members. This representative professional association offers its members a mediation service, verifies the conditions for accessing and carrying out their activity as well as their compliance with professional and organisational requirements and offers a service for monitoring and observing professional activity and practices, in particular by collecting statistical data.

Banking and payment services intermediaries operating in France under the freedom to provide services or the freedom of establishment may also join an approved professional association mentioned in this I.

II.The obligation to join an approved professional association provided for in I of this article does not apply to :

1° Exclusive banking and payment services agents who act as intermediaries under a mandate from a credit institution, a finance company, a payment institution, an electronic money institution that provides payment services, a participative finance intermediary, an insurance company in the context of its lending activities or a management company in the context of its alternative investment fund management activities referred to in Article L. 511-6, and who are under a contractual obligation to work exclusively with one of these undertakings for a given category of banking transactions or payment services, as well as their agents ;

2° Banking and payment services agents who act as intermediaries under one or more non-exclusive mandates issued by one or more credit institutions, finance companies, payment institutions, electronic money institutions that provide payment services, participative finance intermediaries, insurance companies in connection with their lending activities or management companies in connection with their alternative investment fund management activities referred to in the same Article L. 511-6, and their agents ;

3° Intermediaries registered on the register of another Member State of the European Union or of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area to carry out intermediation activities relating to mortgage loan agreements within the meaning of Article L. 313-1 of the Consumer Code.