#SAVINGS & FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
The French Treasury wants to exclude from the PEA the ETFs that replicate the S&P 500 or MSCI World via a swap.
Published on August 16, 2026 · to be rechecked on November 1, 2026
A cross-industry note dated July 24, 2026, signed by AFG, AMAFI, the French Banking Federation and France Post-Marché, states that the Treasury proposes making funds that use a swap to separate investment from exposure ineligible for the PEA, in the 2027 Finance Act. These ETFs are currently eligible: they hold a basket of European stocks meeting the 75% rule, but swap its performance by contract for that of the S&P 500 or MSCI World.
What about units already held?
Two options are being discussed: a forced transfer to an ordinary securities account, or being grandfathered in with no new purchases allowed — the option requested by the four industry federations.
In other words: no text has been published yet, either on the exact scope of funds targeted or on the fate of units already held in a PEA — but the tax gap between a PEA and an ordinary securities account is already well known: after five years of holding, the PEA is taxed far less than an ordinary account.
Three caveats, because they matter
- The July 24 note is an industry position, not a piece of legislation: the government can keep it, amend it, or drop it before the 2027 Finance Act is voted on.
- The Direction générale du Trésor had nonetheless confirmed this same eligibility in response to a written question from Senator Hervé Maurey, published in the Official Journal on May 14, 2026 — less than three months before the note proposed the opposite.
- There's still no indication whether a transitional measure would protect units already acquired, or when any exclusion would take effect.
Why it still matters: selling a PEA ETF now, as a precaution, means turning an unrealized gain into a certain tax bill, to guard against a risk that is neither voted nor drafted yet.
For you
- Would you sell a position today to avoid a risk that doesn't exist yet?
- Does your PEA hold ETFs that replicate a non-European index via a swap?
Source: cross-industry note from AFG-AMAFI-FBF-France Post-Marché, July 24, 2026; written question no. 08783 from Senator Hervé Maurey, JO Sénat, May 14, 2026.
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