Paragraph 1: Operating credit

All open-ended loans, other than occasional loans, granted by a credit institution or finance company to a company may only be reduced or interrupted following written notification and the expiry of a notice period fixed at the time the loan was granted. This period may not be less than sixty days, failing which the loan will be null and void. In compliance with the applicable legal provisions, the credit institution…

Credit institutions or finance companies shall provide companies applying for a loan or receiving a loan with their rating and an explanation of the factors that led to the rating decisions concerning them, when they so request. Such explanations or information may not be requested by or disclosed to third parties.

Every quarter, the Banque de France publishes a document based on the volume of outstanding loans and new loans granted by credit institutions or finance companies to businesses, showing the share and volume of loans granted to : – to companies created less than three years ago ; – small and medium-sized enterprises. The data specifies, for each category, the number of companies concerned.