CreditHub: France

• Sole-trader status with automatic separation of assets.

Since 15 May 2022, the proprietor's professional and personal assets are automatically separated. Business creditors can only pursue the professional assets unless the owner has waived this protection.

Greatly reduced personal risk for sole traders since 2022.

• Single-member private limited company with liability limited to contribution.
• No minimum capital (≥ €1).

EURL (Entreprise unipersonnelle à responsabilité limitée) is a one-person SARL. Liability is limited to the amount contributed.

Limited liability protection, suitable for solo entrepreneurs.

• Single-shareholder simplified joint-stock company.
• No minimum capital (≥ €1).

SASU (Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle) offers limited liability, and capital is freely set by the founder.

Flexible and scalable business structure with limited liability.

• A company with 2-100 partners and liability limited to contributions.
• No minimum capital (≥ €1).

SARL (Société à responsabilité limitée) involves 2-100 partners and offers limited liability.

Ideal for small to medium-sized enterprises, limited liability.

• General partnership (≥2 partners) with unlimited, joint and several liability.

SNC (Société en nom collectif) partners are jointly and severally liable on all their personal and professional assets.

Very high personal risk, suitable only for highly trusted partners.

• Public limited company with minimum capital of €37,000.
• Requires at least 2 shareholders (7 if listed).

SA (Société anonyme) is a public company with liability limited to capital contributed. The minimum number of shareholders is 2, or 7 if the company is publicly listed.

Suitable for larger enterprises seeking to raise public capital.

• A simplified joint-stock company for one or more shareholders.
• No minimum capital (≥ €1).

SAS (Société par actions simplifiée) offers flexible management and limited liability. A single-shareholder SAS is called a SASU.

Great for growing businesses needing flexibility and protection.

• The RNE is France's single official company register.
• Searchable for free via DATA INPI.

Corporate information is held in the Registre national des entreprises (RNE), which is searchable free of charge through the DATA INPI portal.

Use DATA INPI for primary, real-time company information.

• Official documents are on Infogreffe and DATA INPI.
• Private bureaus offer credit reports.

Statutory annual accounts and certified extracts (K-bis) are downloadable on Infogreffe or DATA INPI. Private bureaus like Altares-D&B or Creditsafe provide scored credit reports and payment data.

Combine official filings with private credit reports for a full picture.

• Court decisions are published for free on Judilibre.
• Infogreffe flags insolvency procedures.

Under the open-data scheme, court judgments are being progressively released and are accessible for free via the Judilibre search engine. The deadline for nationwide publication is September 30, 2025.

Check Judilibre for court judgments against a business partner.

• A complete, chronological file is needed.
• Any method of proof is admissible in commercial matters.

The court will expect a file covering the whole trading relationship, including:

• Offer & Acceptance: Signed contract, purchase order, order confirmation.
• Performance: Delivery notes (bon de livraison), time-sheets, acceptance reports.
• Price & Payment: Invoices, credit notes, statement of account.
• Default: Reminders, formal demand (mise en demeure), acknowledgment of debt.

Maintain detailed records of the entire trading relationship.

• Must be a written clause.
• Must be agreed no later than delivery.

To be enforceable, a Retention of Title (ROT) clause must be agreed to in writing (e.g., in the contract or accepted T&Cs) before or at the time of delivery. Inserting it on an invoice afterward is not sufficient.

Include your ROT clause in the initial contract or T&Cs.

• A claim (revendication) must be filed within three months of the insolvency notice.

When a buyer becomes insolvent, the seller must file a claim to reclaim the goods within three months of the opening judgment's publication in the BODACC. The goods must still be in stock and identifiable.

Act quickly to reclaim goods if a buyer enters insolvency.

• A formal demand (mise en demeure) is best practice.
• It is mandatory for fast-track payment orders.
• There is no statutory waiting period after the deadline.

While not formally required for an ordinary lawsuit, sending a mise en demeure is best practice as it starts the clock for legal interest. It is required for fast-track procedures like an Injonction de payer. A period of 8-15 days is usual, but no period is mandated by law.

Always send a formal demand letter before suing.

• Interest accrues automatically from the day after the due date.
• A fixed recovery fee of €40 per invoice is automatically owed.

If the contract is silent, late payment interest is the ECB refinancing rate + 10 percentage points (e.g., 12.15% as of July 2025). In addition, a creditor can automatically claim a fixed €40 charge for recovery costs for each overdue invoice. No reminder is needed.

Always add the €40 fee and contractual/statutory interest to your claim.

• Representation by a lawyer (avocat) is mandatory for claims above €10,000 in the Civil Court (tribunal judiciaire).

In the Commercial Court, a company can appear through its legal representative, but a power of attorney is required for anyone else. In the main Civil Court, a lawyer is mandatory for all claims over €10,000.

Factor in mandatory lawyer costs for claims over €10k in civil court.

• Uncontested payment order: 1-3 months.
• Contested commercial lawsuit: 8-12 months.
• Appeal: 18-24 months.

An uncontested payment order (Injonction de payer) can become enforceable in 2-4 months. A standard contested lawsuit in the Commercial Court takes roughly 8-12 months at first instance, with a subsequent appeal taking an additional 18-24 months.

Fast-track procedures are much quicker if the debt is not disputed.

• Court fees are low (e.g., €33.47 for an Injonction de payer).
• Lawyers' fees are free-market.
• The winner can ask the court to award costs.

A clerk's fee for a payment order is around €33.47. Lawyer fees are the main cost. Pure "no-win-no-fee" is illegal, but success fees are allowed on top of a base fee. The victorious party can request a discretionary contribution to its legal costs from the losing party under CPC art. 700.

Even if you win, you may not recover all your legal fees.

• Provisionally enforceable by default, even if appealed.
• An appeal does not automatically suspend enforcement.

A French judgment is typically enforceable immediately, even if the debtor appeals. The debtor must apply to the Court of Appeal for a specific stay of execution to halt enforcement, which is not automatically granted. Enforcement is carried out by a commissaire de justice.

You can start enforcing a judgment right away without waiting for the appeal period to expire.

• EU judgments are directly enforceable.
• UK and other non-EU judgments require an exequatur.

Judgments from EU member states are directly enforceable in France under EU Regulation 1215/2012. Judgments from the UK and other non-EU countries require a separate court action (exequatur) to be recognized and enforced.

Enforcing a UK judgment in France is now a more complex process than enforcing an EU one.

• Sauvegarde (Safeguard): For foreseen, not actual, insolvency.
• Redressement Judiciaire (Receivership): For actual insolvency, aims for a recovery plan.
• Liquidation Judiciaire (Bankruptcy): When recovery is impossible.

French law provides for several procedures. In 2024, about 77% of collective proceedings ended in liquidation.

The vast majority of insolvencies result in liquidation with low recovery for unsecured creditors.

• Claims must be lodged within two months (domestic creditors) or four months (foreign creditors).

A creditor must lodge its proof of debt (déclaration de créance) with the liquidator within two months of the insolvency notice in the official journal (BODACC). Foreign creditors are given four months.

Strict deadlines apply for filing claims; monitor the BODACC for notices.