Columbia Law School (LexBlog France)

Key Points The number of activist campaigns launched against European companies rose again in 2023, with a new focus on German targets. Many activists surveyed believe that France offers them good opportunities. Most of the companies surveyed said they have moved to install defenses against activists, or plan to in the near future. The boards...

While unequal voting structures in the U.S. are commonly associated with technology and media companies, there is no such industry specific tendency in Europe – with its tradition of so-called “loyalty shares” and government ownership. This paper surveying dual class share structures in Europe follows an earlier piece looking at similar structures in the U.S....

In response to the sharp increase in campaigns by activist hedge funds in France and Europe generally, a French commission has conducted an extensive investigation and issued a carefully researched, reasonable and balanced report recommending regulatory and procedural changes to rebalance the relationship between companies and activists.  The key recommendations are: “[S]tronger transparency...

On April 11, 2019, the French parliament adopted a law (the “Loi Pacte”or “Law”)[1] that establishes a new regulatory framework for initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) of blockchain based tokens by entities established or registered in France.  At the heart of the Law’s ICO provisions is an innovative framework that will allow issuers to request an...