According to the report, which cited unnamed sources, the watchdog noticed shortcomings in investment services firm Leonteq's disclosure of suspicious transactions to authorities, and insufficient checks linked to accounts and transactions of clients in high-risk countries, as determined by global money-laundering task force FATF.

Leonteq said it was not aware that French regulators had reported irregularities linked to its anti-money-laundering or tax processes to prosecutors.

"Leonteq was confronted with certain allegations in 2022 and 2023 concerning products distributed by third parties in the past", the company said in an emailed statement.

It said internal investigations into the matter revealed no evidence of intentional misconduct by its employees.

The firm said it took any "potential finding by supervisory authorities very seriously".

The regulator ACPR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Bernadette Baum)