Chapter I: Prevention of business difficulties, ad hoc mandates and conciliation procedures

Any person registered in the Trade and Companies Register or the National Register of Companies as a business in the trades and crafts sector, as well as any individual entrepreneur with limited liability and any legal entity under private law, may join a prevention grouping approved by order of the State representative in the region. The purpose of this group is to provide its members with a confidential analysis of…

I.-When it is apparent from any act, document or procedure that a commercial company, an economic interest grouping or a sole proprietorship, commercial or craft business is experiencing difficulties likely to jeopardise its continued operation, its directors may be summoned by the president of the commercial court to consider the appropriate measures to rectify the situation. As soon as this summons has been sent, the president of the court may,…

The provisions of I of Article L. 611-2 are applicable, under the same conditions, to private legal entities and to natural persons exercising an agricultural or independent professional activity, including a liberal profession subject to a legislative or regulatory status or whose title is protected. For the application of this article, the judicial court shall have jurisdiction and its president shall exercise the same powers as those conferred on the…

When it appears to the statutory auditor that the urgency requires the adoption of immediate measures and the manager refuses to do so or indicates that he is considering measures that the statutory auditor considers insufficient, the statutory auditor may inform the president of the competent court as soon as the first information is given, pursuant to articles L. 234-1, L. 234-2, L. 251-15 and L. 612-3, to the chairman…

The president of the court may, at the request of a debtor, appoint a mandataire ad hoc whose mission he determines. The debtor may propose the name of a mandataire ad hoc. The decision appointing the ad hoc mandatary is communicated for information to the statutory auditors where one has been appointed. The competent court is the commercial court if the debtor carries on a commercial or craft business and…

A conciliation procedure is hereby instituted before the Commercial Court for the benefit of debtors engaged in a commercial or craft activity who are experiencing legal, economic or financial difficulties, whether proven or foreseeable, and who have not been in suspension of payments for more than forty-five days. .

The conciliation procedure is applicable, under the same conditions, to legal persons under private law and to natural persons exercising an independent professional activity, including a liberal profession subject to a legislative or regulatory status or whose title is protected. For the application of this article, the judicial court shall have jurisdiction and its president shall exercise the same powers as those attributed to the president of the commercial court….

The president of the court is seised by a request from the debtor setting out his economic, financial, social and asset situation, his financing requirements and, where applicable, the means of meeting them. The debtor may propose the name of a conciliator. The conciliation procedure is opened by the president of the court who appoints a conciliator for a period not exceeding four months but which he may, by a…

The task of the conciliator is to encourage the debtor and its main creditors and, where applicable, its usual co-contractors to reach an amicable agreement aimed at putting an end to the company’s difficulties. It may also submit any proposal relating to the safeguarding of the company, the continuation of economic activity and the maintenance of employment. At the request of the debtor and after obtaining the opinion of the…

I. – The President of the Court, at the joint request of the parties, shall record their agreement and give it enforceability. He shall rule in the light of a certified statement from the debtor attesting that he was not in suspension of payments when the agreement was entered into, or that the agreement puts an end to such suspension. The decision recording the agreement is not subject to publication…