The standard brokerage account (CTO)

What is a standard brokerage account (CTO)?

The compte-titres ordinaire (CTO) is an account opened with a bank or a broker to buy, hold and sell securities. It comes with a cash account that receives deposits, sale proceeds, dividends and coupons.

Unlike the PEA, a CTO has no contribution cap, and one person can hold several of them with different institutions.

What it can hold

A CTO accepts a very wide range of instruments: French and foreign shares (including outside Europe), bonds, ETFs, funds and, depending on the institution, other products that are sometimes complex. This flexibility is its main feature.

Key takeaway

A CTO is a wrapper, not an investment: its level of risk depends entirely on the securities it holds.

Taxation

Dividends, coupons and capital gains realised in a CTO are taxable for the year in which they are received or realised. As a rule they fall under the French flat tax (prélèvement forfaitaire unique), with an option for the progressive income-tax scale; social security contributions apply. Capital losses can, under conditions, be offset against gains of the same kind.

Attention

Rates and rules change: refer to the official pages cited at the bottom of this guide. This page does not replace tax advice suited to your situation.

Tracking it in PortefeuilleZen

A CTO is added as an account at its institution. Buys, sells, dividends and fees can be entered or imported; PortefeuilleZen then computes the average cost of each holding and separates value and performance.