Section 3: Rules of good conduct and organisation

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Article R548-5

French Monetary and Financial CodeIn force

Updated 5 Nov 2023

The intermediary in equity financing :

1° Requests any lender and project promoter wishing to enter into a loan agreement :

a) To provide, in the case of a natural person, their surname, first names, date and place of birth, home postal address and e-mail address and, in the case of a legal entity, its name or corporate name, the postal address of its registered office and its SIREN number;

b) Certify that they have read and expressly accepted the regulations governing the general terms and conditions of use of the website and the intermediary's general terms and conditions of sale.

The equity crowdfunding intermediary shall set up a simple procedure on its website for cancelling the registration of any lender or project holder who is not involved in an equity crowdfunding transaction;

2° Makes available on its website a tool enabling lenders to assess their financing capacity based on the declared amount of their annual resources and expenses and their available savings;

3° Publishes on its website, in a way that is easily accessible from the first page :

a) The conditions of eligibility and the criteria for analysing and selecting projects and project sponsors, as well as the information it collects for this purpose;

b) The default rates recorded over the last thirty-six months or, if less than three years, since the start of its activity, calculated and updated quarterly:

- the sum of the outstanding capital of all loans and unsecured loans for which an instalment has been outstanding for more than two months, and the number of corresponding projects out of the sum of the outstanding capital of all loans and the number of corresponding projects ;

- the sum of projects for which loan repayments or free loans remain unpaid each month out of the total number of projects for which repayments are in progress;

4° Presents, for each project to be financed :

a) The project promoter and, by means of an appropriate notice, the project itself as well as the analysis of the project with regard to the criteria mentioned in a of 3° ;

b) The financing plan for the project, stating the total amount to be financed, where applicable the proportion of self-financing, the nature and amount of any other loans and the existence of any subsidies.

The equity financing intermediary shall indicate whether or not the project promoter has taken out insurance for the loan applied for and, where applicable, the collateral or personal sureties guaranteeing the loan.

Mariela Petrova

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Working with a corporate lawyer in France — Q&A

Any time a strategic decision changes how the company is owned, governed or contractually bound — incorporation, fundraising, M&A, restructuring, shareholder agreements, or major commercial contracts. Earlier engagement always costs less than later remediation.

A notary (notaire) is a public officer who authenticates specific deeds (mainly real-estate transfers and certain family-law acts). A corporate lawyer (avocat) advises on strategy, negotiates and drafts company documents, and represents you in disputes. The two roles complement rather than overlap.

Yes — most of our clients are foreign suppliers, investors or holding entities. We bridge the gap between French law and your home jurisdiction's expectations and deliver everything bilingually.

The SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée) is the default choice for most international structures: flexible governance, single shareholder allowed, no minimum capital, and works cleanly with foreign holding entities. We assess SARL, SA, SCI on the merits when the situation calls for it.

Yes — communications with a French avocat are protected by the secret professionnel (Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971). This protection is broader than the common-law attorney-client privilege and applies to written and oral exchanges.

We work on fixed fees for clearly scoped engagements (incorporation, contract drafting, audits) and on monthly retainers for ongoing advisory. Hourly billing is the exception, not the default. You always know the cost before work starts.

Typical timeline is 2–3 weeks from KYC kick-off to RCS registration, assuming standard documentation. Holding-company structures, foreign-shareholder identification or in-kind contributions can extend this — we flag the gating items at the first meeting.

Absolutely. We routinely coordinate with your in-house counsel, expert-comptable or notaire — pragmatic collaboration is the norm, not the exception. We send them everything they need to do their part without duplicating work.

Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

Avocate au Barreau de Paris

Toque #C2396

15+ Years In Corporate Practice

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Communications protected by professional secrecy — secret professionnel de l'avocat, Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971.

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