The fine provided for in Article 5 of the 131-13 of the French Penal Code for fifth-class offences shall be imposed if the chairman, director, chief executive or manager of a company issues securities offered to the public:
1° Without the insertion in the Bulletin des annonces légales obligatoires, prior to any publicity measures, of a notice drawn up in accordance with Article R. 22-10-3 concerning the issue of shares when the company is formed or, in the third paragraph of Article R. 225-120 concerning capital increases;
2° Without the documents reproducing the statements in the notice provided for in 1° above and containing a mention of the insertion of this notice in the Bulletin des annonces légales obligatoires with reference to the number in which it was published;
3° Without newspaper advertisements reproducing the same statements, or at least an extract from these statements with reference to this notice, and indication of the number of the Bulletin des annonces légales obligatoires in which it was published;
4° Without the prospectuses and documents mentioning the signature of the person or representative of the company from which the offer emanates and specifying whether or not the securities offered are admitted to trading on a regulated market, and if so, on which market.
Serving as an intermediary in connection with the sale of securities without complying with the requirements set out in 1° to 4° is punishable by the same fine.
In the event of a repeat offence, the applicable fine is that set out in 5° of Article 131-13 of the Criminal Code for repeat offences for fifth-class offences.
The provisions of this article do not apply to offers to the public mentioned in 1° or 2° of article L. 411-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code or article L. 411-2-1 of the same code.