On April 20, 2023, the European Commission adopted a new merger control simplification package to further simplify its procedures for reviewing mergers.
This package is expected to bring significant benefits for businesses and advisers in terms of preparatory work and related costs.
The new rules will apply as from September 1, 2023.
In today’s digital age, transfers of websites, in particular merchant websites, are on the rise.
The question of the legal nature of this type of transfer was of course raised. In this respect, the recognition of the existence of an e-business and, consequently, the application of the formalities relating to the transfer of “classic” businesses to this type of transfer are no longer a matter of debate.
However, some specificities relating to the transfer of e-businesses should be dealt with cautiously, in particular with regard to the items to be transferred and the protection of personal data.
In a judgment handed down on November 22, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that the provision according to which information on the beneficial owners of companies should be accessible in all cases to any member of the general public was invalid, as it considered that such open access constituted a serious interference with fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
In a press release dated January 19, 2023, Mr. Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, decided “to maintain the general public’s access to the data recorded in the register of beneficial owners until proper conclusions regarding the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union are reached”.
On December 22, 2022, Mr. Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, and Mr. Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, announced in a press release that the temporary measure lowering the threshold of voting rights in listed French companies that triggers foreign investment control in France will be extended until December 31, 2023.
Open since January 1, 2023, the One-Stop Shop for business formalities (Guichet Unique in French) introduced by the 2019 Pacte Law in order to simplify administrative procedures for businesses has already raised harsh criticism and discontent as its too many malfunctions make it almost ineffective.
Legal and accounting professionals are unanimously mobilized to assist and support companies through this reform.
Pursuant to the first paragraph of Article L. 227-16 of the French Commercial Code, “In accordance with the conditions which they so determine, the by-laws may specify that a shareholder may be required to sell the shares he/she/it holds in the company.”
The second paragraph of Article L. 227-19 of the French Commercial Code, in its version applicable since July 21, 2019, stipulates that the exclusion clauses referred to in Articles L.227-18 “can only be adopted or amended pursuant to a unanimous decision of the shareholders, in the manner and under the conditions provided for in the by-laws”.
In a recent decision issued on December 9, 2022, following four applications for a preliminary ruling on the issue of constitutionality, the Constitutional Council ruled on the conformity of these provisions with the French Constitution.
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