FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Raphaële Courtier, Sébastien de Monès, Victor Camatta and Jessica Chartier, Bredin Prat
Bank Accounts A pledge over bank accounts falls under the category of pledges over receivables, and is established in respect of the credit balance of the bank account on the day of enforcement of the pledge (subject to the regularisation of cur- rent transactions, initiated but not yet reflected on the bank account). The pledge over bank accounts will be estab- lished in writing and will be enforceable against: • the debtor (which is the bank in the books of which the account is opened): (a) when notified of the pledge; or (b) upon execution of the pledge agreement if the debtor is a party thereto; and • third parties: on the date of its execution. A pledge over bank accounts does not have, per se, the effect of blocking the account. Unless the parties provide otherwise contractually, the pledged bank account will continue to operate normally and the grantor will be entitled to credit or debit the pledged bank account freely until enforcement of the pledge or until a blocking notice is received by the bank in the books of which the account has been opened. Receivables Security over receivables (other than bank accounts) may take various forms, depending on the circumstances. • A pledge over receivables ( nantissement de créances ) will be perfected and enforce- able in the same way as the bank account pledge. Upon notification of the pledge, valid payment of the pledged receivables by the debtor can only be made to the benefit of the secured creditor.
meubles ) and the commercial law pledge over inventory ( gage des stocks ). The Ordinance has repealed the commercial pledge over inventory. Any tangible assets (including inventory) shall now be pledged through an ordinary civil law pledge. Civil law pledge over inventory ( gage de biens meubles ) may be: • possessory – possession of and control over the pledged inventory is effectively trans- ferred to the beneficiary of the pledge or, in the event of a pledge with escrow, to a third- party holder appointed by the parties ( tiers convenu – it being specified that this type of pledge structure can be very costly); or • non-possessory – the pledged inventory is not transferred to the beneficiary of the pledge (therefore, the pledgor can maintain use of the inventory) and the pledge will need to be registered (and renewed after five years) on a special register maintained by the regis- trar ( greffe ) of the commercial court where the pledgor is incorporated. The civil law pledge over inventory will only be enforceable against third parties upon registra- tion (and renewal after five years) with the reg- istrar ( greffe ) of the relevant commercial court in France. The rules related to registration, applicable since 1 January 2023, when Decree 2021–1887 entered into force, are the same as before, save that such registration is made on a new registry called registre des sûretés mobilières , common to all moveable security interests ( sûretés mobi- ilères ).
194 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook