Introduction

Matrix organization

Mergers by absorption

Risks related to the expansion of the scope of criminal liability of legal entities

Validity conditions

Proof of delegation

Exemption from individual liability of delegator

Attribution of offense to legal entity

Delegations of authority

Criminal risk management within business organizations

Complicity in crimes against humanity

Breaches of secrecy

Personal data breaches

Theft

Extortion

Blackmail

Fraud

Misappropriation

Receiving/concealment of unlawfully obtained property (recel)

Attacks on automated data processing systems

Money laundering

Misappropriation by public official (concussion)

Corruption and influence peddling

Unlawful acquisition of an interest

Favoritism

Forgery and use of forgeries

Violation of Criminal Code

Offenses under the Monetary and Financial Code

Offenses under the Commercial Code

Environmental Code violations

Offenses arising from other codes

Types of offenses

Offenses under the Criminal Code, the Commercial Code, or the Environmental Code, Criminal procedure

White Collar Crime (en cours)

The offense of disseminating false information consists of publicly spreading information that provides false or misleading indications about the situation or prospects of an issuer, or about the offer, demand, or price of a financial instrument, or that sets or is likely to set the price of a financial instrument at an abnormal or artificial level (Art. L. 465-3-2 Monetary and Financial Code). It …

Dissemination of false information

The offense of disseminating false information consists of publicly spreading information that provides false or misleading indications about the situation or prospects of an issuer, or about the offer, demand, or price of a financial instrument, or that sets or is likely to set the price of a financial instrument at an abnormal or artificial level (Art. L. 465-3-2 Monetary and Financial Code). It is a formal offense, which does not require the finding of an actual disturbance in prices. Before the reform introduced by the law of 21 June 2016, the Criminal Chamber required that the false information be likely to influence prices . It considered that to characterize the offense of disseminating false information, a simple lie, even if written and repeated, was not sufficient if it was not corroborated by external evidence .

This offense is distinct from misleading commercial practices (Art. L. 122-11 Consumer Code), fraud (Art. 313-1 Criminal Code), or the publication of inaccurate accounts (Art. L. 242-6, 2° Commercial Code). In application of the principle specialia generalibus derogant, the offense of disseminating false information, whose constituent elements are more specific, prevails in the event of concurrent offenses. Most often, the dissemination of false information is combined with insider trading, particularly when corporate executives, holding insider information, disseminate false information to the public to deceive them .

The means used for dissemination is irrelevant. It can take the form of a press release , flyers and brochures , interviews, press conferences, or meetings with financial analysts or journalists from the financial press .

As with insider dealing, a mere rumor is not sufficient . To establish the offense, the existence of inside information is required, but such information must be false or misleading. Suchis the case with inaccurate information regarding the company's financial situation and its prospects , or the presentation by corporate officers, through press releases, of their company as being in recovery, when in fact it was in a state of insolvency . Conversely, information that is neither incomplete nor inaccurate nor disseminated untimely does not fall under the prohibition of disseminating false information . The dissemination of false information constitutes an offense of commission and not of omission, and the false or misleading nature must be assessed on the day the information is communicated, as it is an instantaneous offense .

Dissemination requires a positive act. Thus, the offense of disseminating false information is characterized by the announcement, by a director, of firm orders that do not correspond to any reality, in order to deceive shareholders and investors about the actual situation, both current and future, of the company .

Cass. crim., 20 April 2017, LawLex202300004364JBJ.

Cass. crim., 28 September 2016, LawLex202200011052JBJ.

CA Paris, 20 January 2022, LawLex202300002120JBJ.

Cass. crim, 15 May 1997, LawLex202200011256JBJ.

Cass. crim., 15 March 1993, LawLex202200010721JBJ; Cass. com., 14 February 2024, LawLex202400001318JBJ.

Cass. crim., 5 October 2005, LawLex200600000094JBJ.

Cass. crim., 14 June 2006, LawLex202200004571JBJ.

Cass. crim., 15 March 1993, LawLex202200010721JBJ.

Cass. crim., 17 November 2004, LawLex202200011308JBJ.

White Collar Crime (en cours)

177. Dissemination of false information

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

177. Dissemination of false information

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise