How Do I Make a TRACFIN Declaration (ERMES), Step‑by‑step (france, 2026)

Filing a suspicious transaction report in France, known formally as a déclaration de soupçon, is a legal obligation that touches an expanding range of professionals, from banks and insurers to real‑estate agents and accountants. If you need to know how to make a TRACFIN declaration, the short answer is that almost every filing now goes through ERMES, the secure online platform operated by TRACFIN under the French Ministry of the Economy. With the AMF’s 2026 supervisory priorities placing renewed emphasis on the quality and timeliness of suspicious transaction reports in France, and strengthened AML training requirements taking effect for the real‑estate sector, compliance officers face both heightened scrutiny and tighter procedural expectations.

This guide walks through every stage of the process, who must file, when to file, how the ERMES platform works, sector‑specific nuances, and the penalties for getting it wrong.

Quick Answer, How to Make a TRACFIN Declaration

To make a TRACFIN declaration in 2026, you file a déclaration de soupçon electronically via the ERMES platform at tracfin.finances.gouv.fr. You log in with your credentials, select the appropriate form type (COSI or COSI V1), complete the required fields, including the identity of the parties, the nature of the transaction, and the grounds for suspicion, attach supporting documents, and submit. ERMES issues an electronic acknowledgement upon receipt. In exceptional circumstances where electronic filing is impossible, alternative modalities exist, but ERMES is the mandatory primary channel for all obliged entities subject to France’s AML/CFT framework under the Code monétaire et financier.

Who Must File?, TRACFIN Reporting Obligations and Obliged Entities

The scope of TRACFIN reporting obligations is defined by Articles L.561‑2 and following of the Code monétaire et financier (CMF). The list of obliged entities is extensive, and understanding whether your organisation falls within its perimeter is the essential first step before any ERMES filing.

The principal categories of professionals required to submit a déclaration de soupçon to TRACFIN include:

• Banks, credit institutions, and payment service providers, the largest volume filers, required to report any transaction or attempted transaction where there are grounds to suspect money laundering or terrorist financing.
• Insurance companies and intermediaries, covering life‑insurance products and other policies susceptible to laundering.
• Real‑estate agents (agents immobiliers) and notaries (notaires), obliged when involved in property sale, purchase, or rental transactions exceeding certain thresholds or exhibiting suspicious characteristics.
• Accountants (experts‑comptables) and statutory auditors (commissaires aux comptes), subject to filing obligations when client engagements reveal suspicious flows, though professional secrecy rules impose specific procedural requirements.
• Lawyers (avocats), in limited circumstances, principally when acting in financial or real‑estate transactions (not when providing legal advice or defence litigation).
• Casinos, online‑gaming operators, and virtual‑asset service providers (VASPs), increasingly subject to enhanced due diligence and filing obligations.
• Dealers in high‑value goods, including art dealers and precious‑metals traders above prescribed thresholds.

According to the AMF’s guidelines on the obligation to report to TRACFIN, certain categories of financial professionals benefit from specific modalities. Financial investment advisers (conseillers en investissements financiers) and crowdfunding investment advisers (conseillers en investissements participatifs), for instance, are not required to file via ERMES and instead follow alternative reporting procedures.

Comparison Table, Obliged Entities, Obligations, and ERMES Modalities

When Should You File?, Timing, Thresholds, and the Decision to Report

French law is unambiguous on timing: the déclaration de soupçon must be made as soon as suspicion arises (dès le soupçon). Article R.561‑16 of the CMF requires that, where the suspicion crystallises before a transaction is executed, the declaration must be submitted to TRACFIN prior to the transaction. This pre‑transaction filing allows TRACFIN to exercise its right of opposition (droit d’opposition), which can delay or block the execution of the transaction for a defined period while the intelligence unit conducts its analysis.

Where suspicion emerges only after a transaction has been completed, because new information comes to light or because patterns of activity become apparent retroactively, the declaration must still be filed immediately. There is no grace period. Delay itself can constitute a compliance failure.

Deciding when to file involves an internal assessment that typically follows this sequence:

1. Identify indicators of suspicion. These may include unusual transaction patterns, inconsistencies in client documentation, use of complex or opaque structures, or connections to sanctioned jurisdictions.
2. Assess reasonable grounds. The threshold is suspicion, not proof. The obliged entity does not need to confirm that money laundering or terrorist financing has occurred, only that there are grounds for suspecting it.
3. Consult the internal MLRO. Most obliged entities designate a money‑laundering reporting officer (correspondant or déclarant TRACFIN) who evaluates the suspicion and authorises the filing.
4. File without delay. Once the MLRO confirms the suspicion meets the threshold, the ERMES filing must proceed immediately, before the transaction where possible, or without delay afterwards.

Industry observers note that supervisory authorities are increasingly scrutinising not just whether declarations are filed, but how quickly they are submitted relative to when the suspicion could reasonably have been identified. A pattern of delayed filings may itself trigger regulatory investigation.

How to Make a TRACFIN Declaration on ERMES, Step‑by‑Step Filing Guide

Getting Access: Credentials, Roles, and the Correspondent

Before filing on ERMES, your organisation must register with TRACFIN and designate an authorised correspondent (correspondant TRACFIN or déclarant). Registration is initiated through the ERMES portal. The correspondent receives personal login credentials and, depending on your sector and organisation size, may need a qualified electronic certificate, providers such as Certigna offer ERMES‑compatible PKI certificates for this purpose.

Organisations can designate multiple users with different roles (preparer, reviewer, submitter), enabling segregation of duties within internal compliance workflows. Maintaining the accuracy of user accounts, particularly when staff change roles, is an ongoing administrative obligation. The Tracfin ERMES procedural page provides detailed guidance on account creation, delegation, and credential management.

Choosing the Right Form Type: COSI, COSI V1, and Batched COSI

ERMES supports several declaration and reporting modalities. Understanding which form type to use is critical to ensuring that your TRACFIN declaration is correctly processed.

• Déclaration de soupçon (standard form). The core suspicious‑transaction report, filed when an obliged entity identifies grounds for suspicion regarding a transaction, an attempted transaction, or a business relationship.
• COSI (Communication systématique d’informations). A systematic information communication required for certain categories of transactions, such as cash transfers exceeding prescribed thresholds, regardless of whether suspicion exists. COSI filings are submitted electronically via ERMES.
• COSI V1 (unitary COSI). Used for individual, one‑off systematic communications. This is typically the appropriate modality for single‑transaction threshold reports.
• Batched COSI. For high‑volume entities, particularly banks and payment institutions, ERMES supports bulk COSI submissions, allowing multiple systematic communications to be uploaded in a single structured file.

The Tracfin Guide Utilisateurs details additional modalities and provides technical specifications for each form type, including XML schemas for automated bulk submissions. For most compliance professionals filing a déclaration de soupçon, the standard declaration form is the relevant starting point.

Completing the ERMES Form: Field‑by‑Field Guidance

The ERMES declaration form requires structured information across several mandatory fields. Completeness and clarity directly affect the quality, and therefore the operational value, of your report to TRACFIN. The key fields include:

• Identification of the parties involved. Full name, date of birth, nationality, address, and any identification numbers for the individuals or entities connected to the suspicious activity.
• Transaction details. Amount, currency, date, type of transaction (transfer, cash deposit, property purchase, etc.), origin and destination of funds where known.
• Narrative of suspicion. A chronological explanation of why the transaction or behaviour is considered suspicious. This narrative is the most important element, it should explain what is unusual, what indicators were triggered, and what internal checks were performed.
• Supporting chronology. A timeline of relevant events, including when the client relationship began, when the suspicious activity was detected, and any prior interactions with the client about the transaction.

When handling personally identifiable information, redact only what is genuinely non‑essential to the analysis. Over‑redaction can undermine the report’s usefulness, while under‑redaction raises data‑protection considerations. The practical balance is to include all information reasonably relevant to the suspicion and to handle the submission through ERMES’ encrypted channel, which satisfies GDPR transfer requirements.

Attachments, Evidence, and Retention

ERMES permits the attachment of supporting documents to the declaration. Typical attachments include copies of identity documents, bank statements, contracts, correspondence (including emails), and internal analysis notes. The platform accepts standard file formats including PDF, and the Guide Utilisateurs specifies applicable size limits for each attachment.

Internally, the obliged entity must retain a complete record of the STR decision, including the analysis that led to the filing, the documents submitted, and the ERMES acknowledgement, for a minimum of five years from the date of filing, consistent with CMF record‑retention requirements. This audit trail is essential for demonstrating compliance in the event of a supervisory inspection.

Submission, Acknowledgement, and After‑Submission Process

Upon submission, ERMES generates an electronic acknowledgement confirming receipt by TRACFIN. This acknowledgement should be saved and logged in the entity’s internal compliance records. It serves as proof of timely filing.

After receipt, TRACFIN’s analysts review the declaration. The unit may contact the filing entity to request additional information or clarification. In cases where a pre‑transaction report has been filed, TRACFIN may exercise its droit d’opposition, instructing the entity not to execute the transaction for a period that may extend up to several business days while analysis continues. If TRACFIN does not exercise opposition within the statutory period, the transaction may proceed, although the entity retains the right to refuse the transaction on its own compliance grounds.

There is no formal feedback loop informing the filing entity of TRACFIN’s ultimate conclusions. Confidentiality around the existence and content of the declaration is strictly maintained under CMF provisions, and the filing entity must not inform the client that a report has been made (obligation de non‑divulgation, or “tipping‑off” prohibition).

ERMES Quick‑Reference Checklist

Sector Focus, Real Estate (2026 Update), Notaries, Accountants, and the Financial Sector

While the core ERMES procedure applies uniformly, each sector faces specific nuances in how TRACFIN reporting obligations translate into practice.

Real‑Estate Professionals, TRACFIN Immobilier Obligations 2026

The real‑estate sector has been a particular focus for French AML regulators in recent years. Estate agents must file a déclaration de soupçon whenever they identify indicators of money laundering or terrorist financing in the course of a property transaction, and critically, the filing must be made prior to the transaction’s completion wherever possible, to allow TRACFIN to exercise its opposition right. TRACFIN provides a dedicated real‑estate sector questionnaire that agents must complete alongside the standard ERMES form.

Early indications suggest that 2026 has brought strengthened training obligations for the real‑estate sector under updated AML regulations. Industry observers expect these measures to require periodic, documented AML training for all staff involved in property transactions, with compliance records subject to inspection by supervisory authorities. Real‑estate professionals should ensure that their training logs, internal procedures, and ERMES filing practices are up to date and audit‑ready.

Notaries

Notaries occupy a unique position, they are both public officers and obliged entities. Their TRACFIN reporting obligations arise principally in relation to property conveyances, corporate transactions, and estate administration. Notaries file through ERMES using the standard declaration form, supplemented by sector‑relevant attachments (deed excerpts, funds‑flow documentation). Given their role in authenticating transactions, a notary’s failure to file can carry particularly serious professional and regulatory consequences.

Accountants and Auditors

For experts‑comptables and commissaires aux comptes, the tension between professional secrecy and the filing obligation is a recurring practical challenge. The CMF resolves this by overriding professional secrecy in favour of the TRACFIN reporting obligation, meaning that the act of filing a suspicious transaction report in France does not constitute a breach of confidentiality. However, the scope of what must be disclosed, and how to handle privileged communications in the supporting documentation, remains an area where legal counsel is frequently required.

Financial Sector

Banks, payment institutions, and investment firms represent the largest volume of TRACFIN filers. For these entities, the ERMES workflow is typically integrated into internal compliance systems, with automated pre‑screening and case‑management tools feeding into the declaration process. The AMF’s guidelines clarify specific interpretive questions, for instance, when enhanced due diligence alone is insufficient and a formal declaration becomes necessary, or how to handle simultaneous obligations to multiple supervisors. TRACFIN remains the sole recipient of STRs in France, but certain entities also notify their sectoral supervisor (such as the AMF or the ACPR) in parallel, depending on applicable regulations.

Penalties, Enforcement, and Regulator Engagement

Failure to comply with TRACFIN reporting obligations exposes obliged entities to both administrative and criminal sanctions. The consequences are substantive, and enforcement activity has intensified.

Administrative sanctions. Supervisory authorities, including the ACPR for financial institutions and the relevant professional body for notaries, accountants, and lawyers, have the power to impose disciplinary sanctions ranging from formal warnings to substantial fines. The FATF’s 2022 Mutual Evaluation Report on France noted that administrative fines for AML failures can reach significant levels, with the ACPR in particular having demonstrated a willingness to impose penalties in the millions of euros for systemic compliance failures.

Criminal sanctions. Under the CMF and the French Penal Code, a deliberate failure to file a déclaration de soupçon, or the disclosure of the existence of a filing to a client (tipping off), is a criminal offence. Penalties include imprisonment and fines, though prosecution for failure to file remains relatively rare compared with administrative enforcement.

TRACFIN’s opposition powers. Beyond penalties, TRACFIN’s ability to block transactions through its droit d’opposition constitutes a powerful enforcement mechanism in itself. An entity that fails to file pre‑transaction, thereby depriving TRACFIN of the opportunity to exercise opposition, faces heightened regulatory and legal risk if the transaction later proves to involve criminal proceeds.

Recent media reporting indicates that TRACFIN has been managing a steadily increasing volume of suspicious‑transaction declarations, putting pressure on both the unit’s analytical capacity and on filers to ensure their reports are well‑structured and genuinely useful. The likely practical effect for compliance teams is a growing emphasis on report quality: a poorly drafted declaration that wastes TRACFIN’s resources may itself attract negative supervisory attention.

Practical mitigation. Obliged entities should maintain documented internal AML policies, conduct regular staff training (with attendance records), and keep a log of all filing decisions, including decisions not to file, with reasons. Where doubt exists about the scope or application of the filing obligation, obtaining specialist legal advice before a deadline passes is essential.

Practical Templates and Internal Controls

Effective TRACFIN compliance depends on robust internal processes, not just familiarity with the ERMES platform. Organisations subject to filing obligations should implement an internal MLRO checklist covering the following minimum elements:

• Trigger identification, what indicators prompt an initial suspicion review
• Internal escalation pathway, from front‑line staff to the designated correspondent
• Decision documentation, written record of the analysis and filing/non‑filing decision
• ERMES submission, form selection, completion, attachment, and acknowledgement
• Post‑submission follow‑up, logging TRACFIN communications, responding to requests for information, and documenting any exercise of opposition

Maintaining these controls in auditable form is the single most effective defence in the event of a supervisory inspection. To find a qualified white‑collar crime lawyer in France, filter the directory by country and practice area.

Key Legislative Dates, Timeline

Conclusion, What to Do Next

Understanding how to make a TRACFIN declaration is not optional, it is a legal obligation with serious consequences for non‑compliance. The process is structured: confirm your obligation, assess the suspicion, prepare your documentation, file via ERMES before the transaction where possible, and maintain a complete audit trail. With supervisory expectations rising across every sector in 2026, the cost of delay or poor‑quality filing has never been higher. If you are uncertain about your obligations or facing a complex filing decision, consult a specialist without delay. You can search the Global Law Experts lawyer directory and filter by France and White‑Collar Crime to identify experienced counsel.

Sources

1. Tracfin, ERMES Procedural Information (Informations – Ermes)
2. Tracfin, Guide Utilisateurs (ERMES User Guide)
3. economie.gouv.fr, ERMES, la plateforme de déclaration en ligne de Tracfin
4. AMF, Guidelines on the Obligation to Report Suspicious Transactions to TRACFIN
5. FATF, Mutual Evaluation Report: France (2022)
6. Finascope, Anti‑blanchiment : Tracfin croule sous les déclarations de soupçons
7. Certigna, ERMES Authentication