Mutual and cooperative banks, local savings companies and mutual guarantee companies guaranteeing loans granted by a banque populaire, governed by law no. 47-1775 of 10 September 1947 on the status of cooperation, are required to undergo the cooperative audit mentioned in articles 25-1 to 25-5 of this text when the average number of employees at the end of each of two consecutive financial years exceeds fifty; the average number of employees during the financial year is equal to the arithmetical average of the number of employees at the end of each quarter of the calendar year, or of the financial year when this does not coincide with the calendar year, who are linked to the company by an employment contract.
When there is a group formed either by a regional or federal caisse with the local caisses collectively approved with it or the local savings companies affiliated to it, or by a banque populaire with the mutual guarantee companies guaranteeing the loans granted by it, the threshold of fifty employees mentioned above is assessed at the level of this group and the cooperative audit relates to the group thus formed.