I. – Before a decision is taken on the opening of safeguard, reorganisation or liquidation proceedings instituted by Book VI of the Commercial Code in respect of a credit institution, finance company, electronic money institution, payment institution, investment firm, member of a clearing house or a financial holding company, investment holding company, investment firm, financial intermediary or financial intermediary, a payment institution, an investment firm, a member of a clearing house as well as a financial holding company, an investment holding company, a mixed financial holding company or a mixed holding company, mentioned in 4° to 6° of I of Article L. 613-34, the president of the court shall submit a request for an opinion to the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution. The court registrar shall forward this request without delay. The court clerk shall inform the public prosecutor.
The referral to the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution shall be made in writing. It shall be accompanied by the documents necessary for its information, in particular the determination of whether the company has ceased payments as defined in Article L. 613-26. The Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution shall inform the Chairman of the Management Board of the Fonds de garantie des dépôts et de résolution of the referral without delay if the person concerned is a member of the Fonds.
II. – The opinion of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution is issued by the supervisory board, which gives its decision within twenty-one clear days of receipt of the request for an opinion. In urgent cases, the time limit may be shortened by the president of the court, but may not be less than five clear working days.
By way of derogation from the previous paragraph, when the person falling within the scope of application of I is likely to be subject to compulsory liquidation proceedings, the assent is issued by the resolution college, which gives its decision within seven clear days of receipt of the request for an opinion.
III. – In the absence of a response from the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution within the time limits stipulated in II, its opinion is deemed to be favourable to the opening of the proceedings.
The opinion of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution shall be in writing. It shall specify whether the person is participating in a system and, if so, shall refer to the provisions of the last paragraph of II of Article L. 330-1. It is sent by any means to the court clerk, who gives it to the president of the court and to the public prosecutor. The notice is placed in the case file.
IV. – The procedure described in this article is also applicable before a decision is taken on the initiation of conciliation proceedings instituted by Book VI of the Commercial Code in respect of a credit institution, finance company, electronic money institution, payment institution or investment firm.