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• French Supreme Court Extends Transfer of Criminal Liability During Merger by Absorption to All Company Types

  The criminal liability of the absorbed company is transferred to the absorbing company, regardless of the corporate form of the company involved in the merger by absorption. In a ruling handed down on May 22, 2024, 1 the Criminal Division of the French Supreme continued the jurisprudential work it had begun in 2020 and extended the transfer of criminal liability from the absorbed company to the absorbing company to all corporate forms, beyond the French sociétés anonymes initially concerned.

• Les demandes de brutage fiscal en matière d’arbitrage international d’investissement (Tax Gross-Up Claims in International Arbitration Procedures)

  La présentation de demandes de brutage fiscal – ou « tax gross-up » – des indemnités pouvant être réclamées lors d’une procédure d’arbitrage par les parties lésées est essentielle. L’objectif de telles demandes consiste en la prise en considération de l’impact fiscal dans le calcul opéré par les arbitres des indemnités compensatrices des préjudices. L’analyse des décisions d’arbitrage révèle le plus souvent une mauvaise appréciation de cette problématique, que cela soit de la part des parties ou des juges. Plusieurs remèdes peuvent être envisagés. The submission of tax gross-up requests for indemnities that can be claimed during arbitration proceedings by the injured parties is critical. The objective of such requests is to include the tax consequences in the calculation made by the arbitrators of the compensation for damages. The analysis of arbitration decisions most often reveals a poor appreciation of this issue, whether on the part of the parties or the judges. Several remedies can be considered. Originally published in Revue de l’arbitrage Vol. 2024, No. 1. - 2024.

• Engage Finance Newsletter N°26, Mai 2024 – France

  Extension de procédure collective en raison d'un compte courant d'associé débiteur Cass. Com., 13 septembre 2023, n°21- 21.693 Par un arrêt en date du 13 septembre 2023, la chambre commerciale de la Cour de cassation a rendu une décision au terme de laquelle l’existence d’un compte courant d’associé présentant un solde débiteur ouvert au nom de l’associé cogérant d'une société pourrait permettre d’étendre la procédure collective de ladite société à l’encontre dudit associé cogérant en raison de la confusion des patrimoines de la société et de l’associé cogérant.

• Bulletin Concurrence XI | Janvier ● Février ● Mars 2024

  1. CONTENTIEUX - NON-RESPECT DES ENGAGEMENTS : GOOGLE SANCTIONNÉE À HAUTEUR DE 250 MILLIONS DANS L’AFFAIRE DES DROITS VOISINS - Par la décision n°24-D-03 du 15 mars 2024, Google est sanctionnée par l’Autorité de la concurrence (ci- après l’« Autorité ») pour avoir méconnu quatre des sept engagements souscrits et rendus obligatoires dans la décision n°22-D-13 du 21 juin 2022, et avoir manqué à son obligation de coopération avec le mandataire chargé du suivi de ces engagements. L’amende s’élève à 250 millions d’euros, Google ayant bénéficié de la procédure de transaction avec une proposition de mesures visant à corriger les manquements identifiés.

• Forced Production of Internal Investigations Reports Before French Courts

  Two decisions handed down in quick succession by the Paris and Toulouse Courts of Appeal highlight the complex interplay between interests at stake in each case. Both of the judicial decisions in question concerned pre-trial discovery requests seeking access to internal investigation files that led to the dismissal of an employee in one case and the exclusion of a member of a nonprofit organisation in the other. In both cases, the sanctioned persons issued the requests on the ground of Article 145 of the French Code of Civil Procedure.

• Bulletin Concurrence X - Paris │Octobre ● Novembre ● Decembre 2023

  1. CONTENTIEUX - BISPHÉNOL A DANS LES CONTENANTS ALIMENTAIRES : PRÈS DE 20 MILLIONS D’EUROS DE SANCTIONS - Par une décision du 29 décembre 2023, l’Autorité de la concurrence (ci-après l’« Autorité ») a prononcé une sanction de près de 20 millions à l’encontre de 3 organismes professionnels, le syndicat des fabricants de boîtes et 11 entreprises pour avoir mis en place une stratégie collective visant à ne pas se faire concurrence sur la question de l’absence ou non de Bisphénol A (ci-après « BPA ») dans les contenants alimentaires.

• French Supreme Court: Unfairly Obtained Evidence Can Be Admissible in Civil Litigation

  Amid the continued expansion of the right to evidence, the court reversed its previous position that evidence obtained through unfair methods was inadmissible. When asked to re-examine the relationship between the right to evidence and the principle of fair proof, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) reversed the position in its case law on 22 December 2023 (no. 20-20.648). The court accepted that, in civil litigation, a party can use evidence obtained unfairly (in this case, recordings of comments made without the commenter’s knowledge) to assert its rights.

• French Court Reaches Precedent Decision on the Duty of Vigilance Law

  The Paris Judicial Court handed down the first ruling on the legal compliance of a vigilance plan. On 15 January 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal announced the creation of a chamber dedicated to emerging litigation, in charge of disputes linked to Law No. 2017-399 of 27 March 2017 on the duty of vigilance (the Duty of Vigilance Law) and environmental liability cases.

• France Transposes Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive Into Law

  As the first EU country to transpose the CSRD into national law, France will gradually replace the EFPD with sustainability reporting under the new directive. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (the CSRD) entered into force on 5 January 2023, replacing the previous Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and laying out specific and expanded reporting obligations around environmental, social, and governance for relevant companies.

• Establishing a Business Entity in France (Updated)

  1. Types of Business Entities - • Description of the types of entities available in each jurisdiction through which to conduct business - Business may be conducted in France either through a French branch of a foreign company (1) or through a French company (2). Both are considered to be forms of direct investment in France.

Featured documents

• Droit de suite

  The reports last week of the decision of the Paris High Court regarding the droit de suite (aka artist's resale right) on the sale of certain paintings by Salvador Dali are a reminder of what is coming our way. In less than five months the scheme will be extended to the UK, for deceased artists,...

• Less Working Hours Shall Not Mean Increased Pressure

  In three recent decisions, the French civil Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) has ruled that forfaits-jours agreements (lump sum payments for work time computed in days) are not valid if a union agreement does not provide for sufficient protection of the employee's health and safety. These...

• Perquisition Privée: France Ahead Of U.S. In Allowing Trade Secret Owners To Seize Property From Suspected Thieves

  Can trade secret owners secretly petition a court to seize property from a competitor that they suspect of stealing trade secrets? In the United States, the answer is: “Not yet.” This is one of the issues that Congress is considering as it debates a myriad of proposed trade secret reform bills. But ...

• Two Important Bills for IP Rights Holders Adopted in France

  This OnPoint covers the implications of two important recent developments for IP rights holders in France: (i) the ratification by the French parliament of the Agreement creating the Unified Patent Court (law no. 2014-199, dated 24 February 2014); and (ii) the adoption of the Bill aimed at...

• France Provides for Consumer Class Actions

  France, following the lead of many other European Union members, has enacted legislation providing for class actions in the consumer law field. The new law, known as the "Hamon Law", was passed in February but is still coming into effect through various decrees, which also provide further details...

• France Posts Report on Nanomaterials Reported as of June 2014

  The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Energy published a report, available only in French, concerning the second round of mandatory reporting of nanomaterials. Under Decree No. 2012-232, companies that manufacture, import, and/or distribute a “substance with nanoparticle status” in ...

• Investment Funds Update - Europe: Legal and regulatory updates for the funds industry from the key asset management centres and primary European fund domiciles: France

  AFG and Amafi's Response to ESMA on MiFID II/MiFIR - The AFG, (Association Française de Gestion), the association representing French management companies, replied to ESMA’s consultation paper on MiFID II and MIFIR on 2 March 2015. The answer pointed out the main concerns of French management...

• Competition News July-August 2015

  French merger control: The Competition Authority agrees to approve the prospective acquirer of assets sold by the purchaser - On May 15, 2015, the Competition Authority authorized, subject to certain conditions, the acquisition of Totalgaz by UGI France, Antargaz’ parent company, in a case...

• French Trademark Office Will Not Register “PRAY FOR PARIS” Or “JE SUIS PARIS”

  After the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, the French Trademark Office received so many applications for “JE SUIS CHARLIE” that the Office issued a statement in which it warned that it would not register any of these marks. The reason given at that time by the Office was that,...

• Competition News April 2016

  Requests for information: reinforced statement of reasons for late investigative measures - With four decisions of March 10, 2016, the European Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) reminded the European Commission of its obligation to state properly the reasons for its requests for information aimed...