FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: William Julié, Amélie Beauchemin, Camille Gosson and Elena Moreno, WJ Avocats
was obtained in the performance of a profes - sional duty; and • breaching or failing to fulfil conditions attached to authorisations granted by competent authorities to conduct activities that, in the absence of such an authorisation, amount to a violation of a prohibi - tion or restriction that constitutes an EU restrictive measure. Concerning penalties faced by natural persons, Article 5 of the Directive leaves some leeway to EU member states but provides several indications concerning minimum fines and terms of imprisonment (from one year to five years or a maximum term of three years, depending on the offence committed). It also provides for accessory criminal or non-criminal penalties or measures, which may include: • fines that are proportionate to the gravity of the conduct and to the individual, financial and other circumstances of the natural person concerned; • withdrawal of permits and authorisations to pursue activities that resulted in the criminal offence; • disqualification from holding, by a legal person, a leading position of the same type used for commit - ting the criminal offence; • temporary bans on running for public office; and • publication of all or part of the judicial decision. Concerning legal persons, Article 7 of the Directive provides for the following potential penalties: • exclusion from entitlement to public benefits or aid; • exclusion from access to public funding, including tender procedures, grants and concessions; • disqualification from the practice of business activities; • withdrawal of permits and authorisations to pur - sue activities that resulted in the relevant criminal offence; • placement under judicial supervision; • judicial winding-up; • closure of establishments used for committing the criminal offence; and • where there is a public interest, publication of all or part of the judicial decision relating to the criminal offence committed and the penalties or measures
imposed, without prejudice to rules on privacy and the protection of personal data. The Directive provides for minimum fines, depending on the offence committed. The Directive was imple - mented in France through Decree No 2015-470 of 28 May 2025, which gave competence to the Advisory Board on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing to ensure co-ordination and co-operation between law enforcement agencies and the authori - ties responsible for implementing EU restrictive meas - ures (Article D561-51 of the Monetary and Financial Code). As explained in the foregoing, given that crimi - nal penalties for sanctions violations were already in effect under French law, the transposition of the Direc - tive did not bring any substantial changes. 2.2.3 Civil Enforcement Action As detailed above, the ACPR exercises civil enforce - ment over entities under its supervision, such as banks, insurers and asset managers, especially regarding asset-freeze obligations under UN and EU restrictive measures. On 27 June 2024, the ACPR Sanctions Committee fined a major French bank EUR2.5 million for deficien - cies in transaction monitoring, insufficient enhanced due diligence and failure to report suspicious transac - Examples of key criminal enforcement actions in respect of sanctions breaches in France in the last few years include: • the Lafarge trial, which related to the financing of ISIS in breach of EU and UN sanctions – in October 2024, the Paris court ordered the trial of Lafarge and eight former executives for alleged ter - rorist financing activities; • The Baltic Leader trial – in July 2024, the Rouen Prosecutor sought EUR8 million in fines, confisca - tion of a vessel and a ten-month suspended prison sentence for a captain accused of breaching Rus - sian sanctions by departing Rouen with a Russian- flagged vessel controlled by a sanctioned bank, who was subsequently acquitted on all charges; and tions, in violation of sanctions law. 2.2.4 Criminal Enforcement Action
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