Correspondents of the Treasury
the correspondents of the Treasury are, pursuant to the French organic law relating to the finance laws and the decrees on enforcement of a law of the organizations which deposit on a purely obligatory or optional basis funds with the Treasury or are authorized to proceed to operations of receipts and expenditure via the accountants of the Treasury. Institution suitable for the Napoleonean centralism, it does not have an equivalent in the world. Apart from the case of Senegal, the similar mechanisms which were installed in Spain or in a very remote way at the United States, do not exist any more since the years 1950.
Definition
The concept of correspondents of the Treasury recovers the whole of the natural persons or morals, public or private which are holders of an account open in the writings of the Treasury. The financial relation that the moral person or physics maintains, public or private with the State is then, taking into consideration text, the criterion making it possible to identify the correspondent of the Treasury: it is the existence of an account to the Treasury which one will be able to recognize a correspondent. The funds deposited with the Treasury represent each year more than 60 billion Euos, all correspondents confused. The contribution with official finances is thus considerable and justifies, seemingly at least, such an obligation and the exorbitant character of the rules which are imposed to them.
Identification
In the absence of exact census of the number of correspondents, their identification is difficult: if one is informed of the amounts deposited with the Treasury, it is hardly possible to break down these funds by correspondent exactly. Indeed, the documents published by the Treasury distinguish four main categories of correspondents: additional budgets and not personalized services of the State, financial organizations, local local government agencies and public corporations, and other correspondents. These categories themselves are subdivided in subcategories. Nevertheless, the Summarized Situation of the Operations of the Treasury, appearing monthly with the Official journal, counts with final only the 29 types of correspondents, reported to the thousand to which one evaluates usually the number of correspondents of the Treasury.
Discusses
The contemporary passion for a modest State raises the question of the need, the utility or then of the harmfulness of such an at the same time tentacular and monopolistic capitalization all woven around the Treasury. However, these criticisms increased, are not strictly speaking a recent phenomenon. Indeed, this tendency takes shape as of the Sixties: the omnipresent Treasury is disputed in subjections that it imposes on its correspondents. In addition and in general, the correspondents of the Treasury are not only depositors with the Treasury. Their deposits, which they are obligatory or optional, are justified by the legal, economic bonds and policies which they maintain with the State. This is why are thus among the correspondents of the Treasury as well of the companies tenderers of government contract - depositor on a purely optional basis -, of the correspondents in values of the Treasury - depositor for example pursuant to convention -, as territorial collectivities - depositor on a purely obligatory basis -. Each one thus has beyond strictly banking relation between type and the Treasury, of the more or less close connections with the State. The relation established between the State and these entities is thus not confined with the simple etymological direction of the term which wants that correspondents are " the parts between which an account is ouvert" .
The origin of the correspondents of the Treasury
particular funds The Consulate inherits a disastrous financial position, in particular related to the difficulties of tax collection. For Gaudin, then Minister for Finance, it became urgent, taking into account the financial problems of the Treasury, to ensure " the necessary welding enters the immediate expenditure and the receipts to venir" . The Treasury thus calls upon private bankers who join to provide it in funds: they are the Traders brought together in 1799, of the Ten Traders in March 1801, the Five Bankers of the Treasury in August 1801, the Agency of the general Receivers in 1802, the Traders brought together in 1804. All these attempts are failures and show an unprecedented crisis of the public treasury in 1806. As of the Consulate, Gaudin, Minister for Finance, thus imagine to make subscribe to the general receivers twelve obligations with the profit of the Treasury, payable of month in month as from July, and representing the amount of the roles of contributions which the general receiver must box in the year: the receiver thus has 18 months to balance the payable contributions in 12 months by the taxpayers. The State wants to be freed from its makers of services which, in addition, practice an expensive discount. By the decree of July 16th, 1806, the general receivers see themselves constrained to lodge financial guarantees with the State in the form of advances, generally of subscription in obligations and to transmit three times per month their states of receipt to the Case of service. An account running is open in the name of each one by the case. To allow them to find all the resources which the Treasury needs, the general receivers obtain from Mollien, then Minister for Finance, the authorization to accept the money of the deposits of the private individuals. By providing these funds in the form of advances to the Treasury, the receivers see themselves being used an superior interest for that which themselves are used for their depositors. And when the general receivers lose any autonomy, the State recovers with its profit the deposits of the thirds. Based on the tradition, the particular funds still existed at the end XXe century and answer as well a logic of proximity as to a contribution to the treasury of the State. They are not the holders of the accounts which are correspondents of the Treasury, they are actually the correspondents of the general Paymasters: the general Paymasters are, indeed, in their proper name, correspondents of the Treasury, insofar as they are constrained to deposit the funds thus collected on an account open in the writings of the Treasury. The institution of the particular funds disappears however by decree on February 2nd, 2001.
the local government agencies The step is appreciably similar with regard to the communes which are seen very early imposing an obligation of deposit of their funds on the Treasury. Pursuant to an imperial decree of the February 1811 " the Emperor decides that our Minister of Finances will make pour on behalf of the case of service among general receivers, the sums which he will judge to exceed of the needs for the service and will make them restore service" where necessary; . In the same spirit, obligation is made at the departments deposit the whole of their availabilities by the law of July 18th, 1892. The change of the service of Treasury is completed in its broad outlines at the end of the Second Empire: the decree of the bearing May 31st, 1862 general payment on the public accounts lays out that the centralization of the public money is ensured within a single case. The independence of the Treasury is assured.
the public corporations ` With the First World War, while creations of public corporations multiply - which will be brought because of their public service mission to handle public funds -, the role of the State increases. Not being able to be budgeted for since distinct from the State, the funds of the public corporations cannot appear in the finance laws and cannot be subjected to parliamentary approval. The majority of the public corporations are seen, during the Inter-war period subjected to the obligation of deposit of whole or part of their availabilities and are checked countable strict. The funds which they deposit with the Treasury use then in account the casch management of the State. However the role of the correspondents is by no means analyzed as such: they are only considered under the aspect of the funds temporarily advanced in the State.
History No precise definition of what are the correspondents of the Treasury is given before 1862. It is the imperial decree bearing general payment on the public accounts of May 31st, 1862 which gives for the first time a true definition of the correspondents: " Under the title of correspondents of the treasure the operations of receipts and expenditure carried out on behalf of the deposit and consignment office are classified, of the Legion of honor, the postal service of France and all the other similar services which are determined by the instructions ministérielles" . However, this decree of May 31st, 1862, one century obliged reference of public accounts, gives only one operational definition of the correspondents: indeed, the correspondents of the Treasury are identified only as operations carried out for the account of public services; they are indexed only under the countable aspect their financial transactions. It is necessary to practically wait a century to obtain to an either financial but organic definition correspondents. For the first time, the ordinance of the bearing January 2nd, 1959 organic law concerning to the finance laws, will institutionalize, in a minor way insofar as all are not mentioned, certain correspondents of the Treasury. Thus " in addition to the permanent operations of the State the Treasury carries out under the responsibility of the State of the operations of treasury. Those include/understand: operations of deposit on order and for account of the correspondants" . This text also specifies that " except allowed exemption by the Minister for Finance, the territorial collectivities of the Republic and the public corporations are held to deposit with the Treasury all their availabilities. Subject to the specific measures concerning the accounts - currents of the foreign States and the banks of issue of the free zone, no overdraft can be granted a correspondent of Trésor". Thus, a certain number of principles governing the existence of the correspondents, obligation of deposit for the local government agencies and other public corporations, absence of authorized overdraft, finds with this ordinance a legislative and either lawful value. The organic definition takes precedence then over the operational definition: " The correspondents of the Treasury are the organizations and private individuals who, either pursuant to the laws and payments, or under the terms of conventions, deposit on a purely obligatory or optional basis funds with the Treasury or are authorized to proceed to operations of receipts and expenditure via the accountants of the Treasury Of the operations of receipts and expenditure can be made on behalf of the correspondents by the accountants of the State under the conditions fixed by the Minister for Finances." A notable element of the mode legal of the correspondents of the Treasury worked out in 1959 (and renewed in the organic law concerning with the finance laws) is its extreme flexibility: each provision of article 15 of the ordinance of January 2nd, 1959 and the decree of December 29th, 1962 is likely to accept an exemption. If the principle is in oneself very practical, all the difficulty lies in the fact of being able to detect and identify the base of these exemptions, and to again pose the exception and rule bases.
See too
Internal bonds
- Budget of the state French
- Organic law concerning with the finance laws (LOLF)
- Gate on the Public finances
- Public money
- regulated private Sums of money