French Insurance Code

Mutual insurance companies are legal entities governed by private law with non-commercial objects. They are formed to insure the risks brought in by their members or to offer the provision of the operations referred to in article L. 143-1. In return for payment of a fixed or variable premium, they guarantee their members full settlement of the commitments they enter into. However, mutual insurance companies providing life assurance or capitalisation…

Each member is entitled to one vote, without the Articles of Association being able to derogate from this rule.

The articles of association of mutual insurance companies may specify a “raison d’être”, consisting of the principles which they adopt and for which they intend to allocate resources in order to carry out their activities.

A mutual insurance company is managed by a Board of Directors. However, it may be stipulated in the articles of association of any mutual insurance company that it shall be managed by a management board and a supervisory board. The introduction of this stipulation in the articles of association, or its deletion, may be decided during the existence of the company. A decree of the Conseil d’Etat shall lay down…

With effect from 1st July 1991, any clause in the Articles of Association which makes participation in the General Meeting or the election of members of the General Meeting subject to the payment of a subscription fee by members who are up to date with their subscriptions is null and void.

The provisions of Articles L. 225-251, L. 225-253 and L. 225-254 of the French Commercial Code are applicable to mutual insurance companies.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the first paragraph of II of article L. 823-19 of the French Commercial Code, the specialised committee referred to in this article may include a maximum of two members who are not members of the Board of Directors or the Supervisory Board, but who are appointed by the Board for their expertise.