Protected investors in financial law.

Summary In financial law, the concept of protected investors appears imprecise, while the legal protection system is composed of a large number of measures. The contrast is striking. The first part of this research highlights the need for clarification. The vagueness surrounding the protected investors is detailed and its consequences on the objective of protection, on the one hand, and on the protection system, on the other hand, are highlighted. Several questions arise, relating to the notion of investor as well as to the logic and criteria of protection. A source of legal insecurity, an indeterminate conception of protected investors weighs in different ways on the quality of protection. The second part of the paper attempts to clarify the legal concept of investor on the one hand and the legal policy of protection on the other. It is thus proposed to introduce a legal definition of the investor in the Monetary and Financial Code, based on the concepts of legal subject and act of investment. A legal definition of the act of investment also helps to distinguish the legal notion of investor, on the one hand, from that of shareholder, client and consumer, on the other. The protection policy envisaged is then based on known axes that need to be reaffirmed and clarified. The full implementation of this policy requires, in view of the redefined categories of investor and qualified investor, the elaboration of a new legal category of participants in the financial markets.