French Commercial code
In forceThe chairman of the High Council or the general rapporteur shall refuse to comply with a request for information, documents or assistance referred to in Article R. 821-16 when:
a) Persons employed or having been employed by the requesting authority are not subject to professional secrecy;
b) The request is motivated by purposes unrelated to the performance of the missions of the requesting authority, to the supervision and control of persons in charge of statutory audit or to the implementation of procedures relating to the practice of statutory auditing;
c) There is a serious risk that the information or documents requested will be disclosed to persons or authorities other than the requesting authority, unless such disclosure is authorised under procedures laid down by law, regulation or administrative provision relating to the performance of statutory audits;
d) Disclosure of the requested information would be likely to undermine French sovereignty, security or public policy;
e) Criminal proceedings have already been initiated in France on the basis of the same facts and against the same persons;
f) The persons referred to in the request have already been penalised for the same facts by a final decision;
g) Compliance with the applicable regulations on the protection of personal data is not ensured.
The chairman of the High Council or the general rapporteur may also refuse to comply with a request for information, documents or assistance where civil proceedings or sanction proceedings have already been initiated in France on the basis of the same facts and against the same persons.
