FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Barbara Levy, Paul Talbourdet and Alison Vogt, De Pardieu Brocas Maffei
1. Identifying Assets in the Jurisdiction 1.1 Options to Identify Another Party’s Asset Position There are several public registers that may be use - ful for identifying the asset position of another party prior to enforcement. By way of example, judgment creditors wishing to identify their debtor’s real estate assets in France may turn to the real estate registry ( registre de la publicité foncière ), which holds owner - ship information for real estate in France. The register of commerce ( registre du commerce et des sociétés ) is available via the Infogreffe website and identifies the directors of registered companies. The register also identifies the shareholders who are liable for the company’s debts to an unlimited extent ( société civile immobilière and société en nom col- lectif ). It can also be used to check the debt report (privileges and pledges) of a company and whether a corporation faces bankruptcy proceedings. Other tools like Pappers Entreprises and Pappers Immobilier (digital platforms that democratise access to company/real estate information) can be used as well. Decree No 2019-1333 of 11 December 2019 also created a register of movable securities ( registre des sûretés mobilières et autres operations connexes ), which is available via the National Council of Com - mercial Court Clerks ( Conseil National des Greffiers des Tribunaux de Commerce , or CNG)’s online portal (as implemented by Decree No 2021-1887). All French trade marks, patents, registered design applications and registrations are publicly available on the online databases of the French National Institute of Industrial Property ( Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle , or INPI). Caution is advised when looking up very recent trade marks, patents, registered design applications and registrations, as they are subject to publishing delays. In addition, as a matter of principle, court proceed - ings in France are public and many trial court deci - sions are reported on Légifrance, which is the French government’s official website for the publication of
legislation, regulations, and legal information. It may therefore be possible to find useful information about a debtor by scrutinising judicial decisions. Judgment creditors may also hire a private investiga - tor to gather information on the debtor’s asset posi - tion. If the information collected by the aforementioned means is incomplete and/or insufficient, there are oth - er means by which a party can lawfully identify anoth - er party’s asset position within France – namely, by entrusting the task to a French bailiff ( commissaire de justice ). French law allows bailiffs to make information requests to a wide range of public bodies and bodies authorised by French law to hold deposit accounts. The latter can be done by accessing the FICOBA ( fichier national des comptes bancaires et assimilés ) registry, which is an inventory of all deposit accounts in France. The bailiff is not allowed to request informa - tion from the presumed debtor’s employer. Public bodies may only disclose the address of the debtor, the identity and address of their employer, or all third-party debtors or custodians of liquid or pay - able amounts, and a list of real estate assets. Organi - sations authorised by French law to hold deposit accounts may only disclose whether one or more accounts, joint accounts or merged accounts have been opened in the name of the debtor and where the accounts are held. Normally, the information collected will be sufficient to identify the debtor’s asset position and enforce a judicial decision. Details obtained by the bailiff may not be disclosed to third parties or even to the bailiff’s principal. Costs associated with these enquiries are fixed by statute.
2. Domestic Judgments 2.1 Types of Domestic Judgments
Different types of domestic judgments are available under French law. French scholars usually draw a dis - tinction between judicial decisions that have become final after all rights of appeal have been exhausted (or
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