FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Sophie Scemla, Didier G Martin, Diane Paillot de Montabert and Calypso Korkikian, Gide Loyrette Nouel
corruption, money laundering, and insider trading. Co-operation must be managed to preserve legal privilege. • Environmental regulators – agencies enforce sanctions for pollution, hazardous waste, and industrial accidents. Companies must adhere to due diligence and reporting obligations. • Financial and market regulators – securities commissions monitor market abuse, mislead- ing disclosures, and anti-money laundering violations. Accurate reporting is crucial. • Competition authorities – antitrust regulators investigate anti-competitive practices and market dominance abuses. Companies must be cautious during dawn raids. • Data protection regulators – supervisory bod- ies enforce compliance with data protection laws, especially during cyber-incidents or data breaches. • Tax authorities – responsible for ensuring compliance with tax laws, including income, corporate, VAT, and other forms of taxa- tion. They investigate potential tax evasion, fraudulent claims, and financial misreporting. Businesses are required to maintain accurate records and submit timely tax returns. To minimise exposure, companies should: • centralise crisis response to co-ordinate com- munications with regulators; • engage external counsel early, particularly in cross-border investigations; • train executives and employees on handling enforcement inquiries; and • conduct internal investigations. 5.3 Co-Operating With Enforcement Authorities Depending on the topics at stake, companies can be encouraged to co-operate with enforce- ment authorities and regulators during a crisis to
mitigate legal risks and reduce potential sanc- tions. However, co-operation must be structured and legally controlled to protect the company’s interests. To address legal violations, companies typically implement measures as follows. • Internal investigations – conduct independ- ent and confidential audits to assess potential violations before engaging with regulators. • Negotiated resolutions – consider agreements like the Convention Judiciaire d’Intérêt Public (CJIP) or deferred prosecution to resolve liability without admitting guilt. • Legal counsel co-ordination – appoint exter- nal counsel to oversee communications with regulators and avoid self-incrimination. • Compliance remediation plans – develop cor- rective action plans to present to regulators, including enhanced compliance and govern- ance improvements. To manage co-operation without over-exposure, companies ensure controlled disclosure of infor- mation, protect internal documents, and engage with multiple authorities under a harmonised legal strategy for cross-border investigations. 5.4 Litigation Risk Assessment Companies assess potential legal risks and lia- bilities through a structured approach that inte- grates legal and financial exposure, prevention of regulatory violations, and ensuring business continuity. For strategic implementation and prevention, companies use risk mapping tools to quantify liabilities, ensure board oversight, and conduct scenario testing and crisis simulations to refine strategies.
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