Corporate Law

Law No. 2016-1691 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of the economy of December 9, 2016, commonly referred to as the “Sapin II Law”, has provided France with innovative tools inter alia to detect, prevent and punish corruption and breaches of probity.

The reinforcement of the legal arsenal to better fight corruption is one of the major pillars of this Law, and the risks associated to breaches of compliance rules can prove to be a deterrent for buyers in the context of M&A transactions.

The principle under French law is that financial dealings between France and foreign countries are unrestricted.

However, some investors making certain types of investments in so-called “sensitive” business sectors must follow a prior authorization procedure with the French Minister of the Economy.

The control of foreign investments in these business sectors has been significantly reinforced in recent years, especially since the outbreak of the health crisis resulting from the emergence and spread of COVID-19.

Law No. 2021-1104 of August 22, 2021 on combating climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects, adopted on July 20, 2021 (the “Climate and Resilience Law”), was promulgated on August 24, 2021. Its provisions are inspired by the proposals of the Citizens’ Climate Convention. The final text includes 305 Articles in 8 Titles. Some provisions came into force as soon as the Climate and Resilience Law was promulgated, while other measures will apply in 2022, 2023, 2025, up to 2034.

The article provides a focus on the new developments in corporate law.

Parent companies are often asked to guarantee the commitments of their subsidiaries towards third parties. The guarantee can take various forms, but the most frequently used ones are the joint and several guarantee (cautionnement), the independent guarantee (garantie autonome) and the letter of intent (lettre d’intention).

The conditions of validity of a guarantee will vary depending on the type of company issuing the guarantee, i.e., limited liability company or unlimited liability company. Furthermore, joint-stock companies are specific in that the prior authorization of the board of directors, or supervisory board as the case may be, is required for the granting of any sureties, endorsements and guarantees. Other limitations may result from the nature of the guarantee itself.

The liability of the manager of a company placed in judicial liquidation is often sought on the basis of Article L. 651-2 of the French Commercial Code which allows the court, in the event of mismanagement having contributed to the company’s shortfall of assets, to decide that the amount of this shortfall shall be borne, in whole or in part, by said manager.

In a decision issued on September 8, 2021, the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) has clarified the application of this Article to a manager who did not convene the shareholders to regularize the situation of the company, the shareholders’ equity of which had fallen below half of the share capital.

The decision issued on February 20, 2021 by the Commercial Chamber of the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme court) rightly recalls that the failure to convene the statutory auditor to the ordinary general meeting does not result in the nullity of the deliberations made during such meeting.