FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe, Aaron Bass and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
• relevance of internal investigations; • reparation of damages/restitution of illicit gains; and • internal disciplinary measures. On the other hand, the guidelines cite as aggravating factors: • any form of obstruction to the investigation; • late declaration; • lack of a compliance programme or inadequacies in the compliance programme; • repeat offences/previous offences; and • use of the legal entity’s resources to conceal crea - tion of tools to conceal. 7.5 Recent Landmark Investigations or Decisions The Airbus matter in 2020 is a landmark case with regards to its international scope, to the collaboration of the PNF’s Office, the British Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice and to the amount of the fine imposed on the European group – EUR3.6 billion. More recently, in July 2025, former Renault CEO Car - los Ghosn and former member of the European Parlia - ment Rachida Dati were referred to the Criminal Court of Paris on bribery and influence-peddling counts for a trial to be held in September 2026. Mrs Dati, who was also at the time a lawyer, is suspected of having disguised as lawyer fees EUR900,000 she received from Renault-Nissan, in exchange for lobbying inside the European Parliament. In September 2025, former French President Nico - las Sarkozy, who was being prosecuted for his diplo - matic favours to defunct Libyan President Kadhafi in exchange for illegal financing of his presidential cam - paign, was acquitted of passive bribery but sentenced to a five-year imprisonment for criminal conspiracy. He has appealed this sentence and will be judged before the Court of Appeal in 2026. 7.6 Level of Sanctions Imposed The level of sanctions is the highest in international corruption cases.
So far, the highest level of sanctions that has been imposed on a legal entity was EUR3.6 billion on the European Group Airbus which signed prosecution agreements in 2020 with the French PNF’s Office, the British Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice, of which EUR2.8 billion were paid in France. Fines imposed on individuals, on the other hand, are much lower – ie, generally tens of thousands of euros.
8. Compliance Expectations 8.1 Compliance Obligations
French law provides for compliance duties to prevent and detect corruption for companies meeting certain thresholds. Pursuant to Article 17 of the Sapin II Law, companies having more than 500 employees, their registered office in France, and a turnover exceed - ing EUR100 million are required to implement a risk- based, anti-corruption programme. The law defines eight measures that such programme must implement, including a code of conduct, inter - nal controls and internal whistle-blowing system; risk mapping, and employee training. The French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) monitors compliance with these requirements. It is to that effect vested with auditing and vesting powers. Although failure to prevent corruption is not a crime under French law, failures in implementing the compli - ance requirements in question can lead to regulatory proceedings before the AFA’s Sanctions Commission and results in fines up to EUR200,000 (for individuals) or EUR1 million (for legal entities), with the possibility of publication. 8.2 Compliance Guidelines and Best Practices French agencies and enforcement bodies have pub - lished guidelines and recommendations outlining their expectations for an effective compliance programme meeting the legal requirements under French law. The AFA has released non-binding guidelines, which detail the procedures for implementing programmes
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