Introduction

Scope of application

Compliance program

Protection of whistleblowers

Audit and sanctions

Rules arising from the Sapin II Law

EU law

French law

Rules derived from competition law

Sapin II Law/Competition

Scope ratione personae

Scope ratione materiae

Scope

Development of plan

Measures included in plan

Inclusion in management report

Vigilance plan

Injunctions

Civil liability

Sanctions

Duty of vigilance (devoir de vigilance)

CSR programs

Reporting

Communication

Reporting and communication

Judicial sanctions

Risk to reputation, strategy and stability

Corporate Social Responsability (CSR)

Middlenext Code

IFA Corpus

AFEP - MEDEF Code

Types

Principles of governance

Principles incorporating CSR values

Principles

Comply or explain

Binding force

Private codes of conduct

Compliance

The French Anti-corruption Agency (Agence française anticorruption- AFA) is a service with national jurisdiction, created by the Sapin II Law , reporting to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Budget. The AFA's general mission is to help the competent authorities, and those who are confronted with them, to prevent and detect acts likely to constitute breaches of probity, such as corruption, influence peddling, misappropriation of public funds and favoritism.

Article 3, which describes the AFA's role, specifies that it participates in administrative coordination, centralizes and disseminates relevant information to help public and private legal entities prevent and detect breaches of probity. To this end, it must draw up recommendations, adapted to the size of the entities concerned and the nature of the risks identified, which it must update regularly to take account of changes in practices.

The AFA is also responsible for auditing. On the one hand, it verifies the quality and effectiveness of procedures implemented within a number of public bodies to prevent and detect corruption, influence peddling, misappropriation of public funds and favoritism. In addition, it audits the compliance program required by Article 17 II of the Sapin II Law for companies that reach certain thresholds, in order to prevent and detect the commission, in France or abroad, of acts of corruption and influence peddling, punishable under the Criminal Code.

In addition, before drawing up a Convention judiciaire d’intérêt public (CJIP), i.e. a deferred prosecution agreement for acts likely to be classified as corruption or influence peddling, the AFA may, at the request of the Financial Public Prosecutor, draw up and transmit a report examining the anti-corruption measures of the company in question . Once the CJIP has been established and the legal entity has been sanctioned with a compliance program, the AFA's audit mission extends to the implementation of the program, in accordance with Articles 131-39-2 of the Criminal Code and 41-1-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Under the terms of Article 764-44 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the AFA is required to report to the public prosecutor, at least annually, on the implementation of the compliance sentence, and to inform him of any difficulties in its preparation or implementation. It must also submit a report to the Public Prosecutor at the end of the compliance period.

At the request of the Prime Minister, the AFA also monitors compliance with the Law of 26 July 1968 on the disclosure of economic, commercial, industrial, financial or technical documents and information to foreign natural persons or legal entities , under Article 3 of the Sapin II Law, as part of the enforcement of decisions by foreign authorities imposing an obligation on a company headquartered in France to comply with a procedure to bring its internal procedures for preventing and detecting corruption into line. Similarly, it notifies the competent public prosecutor under Article 43 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of any facts of which it has become aware in the course of its duties, and which may constitute a crime or offense .

Lastly, it is required to produce an annual report on its activities, which is made public.

Law No 2016-1691 of 9 December 2016, relating to transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life, OJ of 10 December 2016, known as the Sapin II Law.

CJIP, 9 February 2021, LawLex202300011603JBJ; 9 June 2022, LawLex202300011669JBJ; 15 May 2023, LawLex202300011660JBJ.

Law No 68-678 of 26 July 1968 on the communication of economic, commercial, industrial, financial or technical documents and information to foreign natural or legal persons, OJ of 27 July 1968.

When these facts are likely to fall under the jurisdiction of the Financial Public Prosecutor pursuant to 1° to 8° of Article 705 or Article 705-1 of the same code, the AFA simultaneously notifies the latter.

Tasks

87. Tasks