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Corporate Law

7 December 2023 | Lydie Bontemps-Helmy

Focus on foreign investments in France: requirements, overview and recent incentives

France offers many advantages for businesses, in particular thanks to its central location in Europe, the 2nd largest market in the world, a well-trained workforce and one of the highest hourly productivity rates, an advantageous tax system, as well as an appreciable environmental protection.

The French Government has set up rules to screen foreign investments. This screening has not prevented a significant number of foreign projects from being authorized in 2022.

The French Government has recently been encouraging foreign investments in the industrial and green sectors.

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28 April 2023 | Soulier Avocats

Insights into specificities of the transfer of e-businesses under French law

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.

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28 February 2023 | Soulier Avocats

The general public’s access to data recorded in the register of beneficial owners is maintained until proper conclusions regarding the November 22, 2002 judgment of the CJEU are reached

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”.

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31 January 2023 | Soulier Avocats

The measure that lowers the threshold triggering the control of foreign investments in French listed companies operating in sensitive business sectors is extended in 2023

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.

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27 January 2023 | Soulier Avocats

The One-Stop Shop for Business Formalities: Story of a (very) difficult start

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.

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28 December 2022 | Soulier Avocats

French Constitutional Council confirms that exclusion clauses included in the by-laws of French sociétés par actions simplifiées are compliant with the Constitution

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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