However, the modern Treasury came into being under the leadership of superintendents of finance such as Colbert, and above all with Count Mollien in the 19th century.
Mollien set up the Caisse de service, responsible for overseeing the movement of funds.
Until the 2012 reform, the Treasury was headed in each department by the Treasurer-Paymaster General (Trésorier-Payeur Général), a high-ranking official.
However, following the 2012 reform,[1] the system has been greatly simplified, and relevant administrations for taxes (Direction générale des impôts) and public accounts (Direction générale de la comptabilité publique) were merged into the general directorate of public finances (Direction générale de finances publiques).
In December 2013 it was revealed that it issued fake certificates impersonating Google in order to facilitate spying on French government employees via man-in-the-middle attacks.