Corporate Law

Following a report drawn up by the General Inspectorate of Finance on the certification of the accounts of French small businesses, the Government has included in the Law on business growth and transformation, known as the “PACTE” Law , provisions for an harmonization of the thresholds for the appointment of statutory auditors regardless of the corporate form of the company whose accounts are certified, thereby raising the certification thresholds in commercial companies to the level of the thresholds for small businesses provided for in the Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of June 26, 2013.

Law n°2019-486 of May 22, 2019 on business growth and transformation, known as the “PACTE” Law, aims at “improving and diversifying business financing methods”. It is in this context that various measures have been taken to clarify and modernize the rules governing preferred shares.

On May 17, 2017, Directive 2017/828 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2007/36/EC as regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement in listed companies was adopted.
This revision of Directive 2007/36/EC aims to change practices brought about by the 2008 financial crisis, which, by promoting short-term yields, lead to sub-optimal corporate governance and performance.

There are many legal cases and court decisions concerning the exclusion of shareholders because disputes between shareholders are frequent and the exclusion sensitive to implement practice. While judges ensure strict compliance with the terms and conditions that govern the exclusion of shareholders, some legal tricks do enable to circumvent the inflexibility of the rules of […]

Published on April 25, 2018, Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2017/1132 as regards cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions has the objective to “provide specific and comprehensive procedures for cross-border conversions, divisions and mergers to foster cross-border mobility in the EU while, at the same time, […]

In a previous article published in October 2018[1], we addressed the bill on business growth and transformation, known as the “PACTE Bill” in French, and commented the provisions concerning the increase of the thresholds applicable for the appointment of statutory auditors and the end of the compulsory appointment of statutory auditors in certain types of […]