Corporate Law

Following an application for a preliminary ruling on the issue of constitutionality filed in December 2013, the French Constitutional Council has recently ruled (Decision n° 2013-369 QPC of February 28, 2014) that the automatic suspension of voting rights provided for under Article L. 233-14 §1 and §2 of the French Commercial Code (“FCC”) in case […]

They had promised it; they have made it: the Executive Order on the simplification of the accounting requirements imposed on micro-companies and small businesses[1] and its implementing Decree[2] have just been published. For the record, Law n°2014-1 of January 2, 2014 (the “Law”) had empowered the Government to take measures that are a matter of […]

“Any clause that amends the conditions for the continuation of a current contract by diminishing the rights or increasing the obligations of the debtor merely because the latter has been placed in receivership is prohibited”[1]. Making an extensive interpretation of the principle of continuation of current contracts enshrined in Article L.622-13 of the French Commercial […]

In a judgment dated October 8, 2013[1], the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) has recalled the requirements to be met to ensure the validity and enforceability of a non-compete clause included in a share purchase agreement: Such a clause is valid and enforceable against the shareholders/members who have signed made it insofar it is […]

In a judgment dated July 4, 2013[1] the Paris Court of Appeals has recalled that a management and services agreement entered into between a provider and a beneficiary is void wherever this agreement overlaps with the exercise of a corporate management mandate within the beneficiary. The facts of the case are as follows: On June […]

Arnaud Montebourg, Minister of Industrial Renewal, has recently expressed the desire of the French Government to take new measures designed to protect French companies against hostile takeover bids. These measures, recently developed and commented by the Association Nationale des Sociétés par Actions (French association of joint stock companies, hereinafter “ANSA”)[1], primarily focus on the fight […]