Corporate Governance à la Française – Current Trends

Abstract

The recent evolution of the practice of corporate governance in France reveals a manifest convergence with the guiding principles preached by Anglo-Saxon law. However, a particularism emerges in practice and in the field of application. In France, it is by way of legislation that the principles of corporate governance have been imposed indeed, not only on listed companies but (at least some principles) on all corporations. Moreover, the topic of corporate governance surpasses the limits of our corporate laws: the employee-shareholders are implied in the running of their business, and the non-listed companies must publish information on how they account for the social and environmental impact of their activity. While remaining an essential condition for the development of capital markets, a good practice of corporate governance must also take social, environmental and even political interests into account. The management of corporations is not restricted to the technicalities of corporate law, but concerns the whole of our society.