French Commercial code
In forceI.-The companies mentioned in 1° to 3° of article L. 123-16-2 or those which exceed, in respect of the last completed financial year and on an annual basis, two of the three thresholds set, respectively, for total assets, net sales or average number of employees and all or part of whose activities consist in the exploration, prospecting, discovery, exploitation or extraction of hydrocarbons, coal and lignite, metal ores, stones, sands and clays, chemical minerals and mineral fertilisers, peat, salt or other mineral resources or in the exploitation of primary forests make public annually and under the conditions set out in III of this article a report on the payments made to the authorities of each of the States or territories in which they carry out these activities.
By way of derogation from the first paragraph of this I, the companies mentioned in the same first paragraph and the companies which control, within the meaning of Article L. 233-16, a company that fulfils the conditions set out in the same I and that is required to prepare consolidated financial statements pursuant to the same Article L. 233-16 shall publish a consolidated report on payments made to the authorities of one or more States or territories.
II.A controlled company meeting the conditions of I of this article and those of article L. 233-19 is not included in the scope of the consolidated report mentioned in the second paragraph of I of this article.
Controlled companies meeting the conditions provided for in the same I are not required to publish a report when their consolidating company is governed by the law of a Member State of the European Union and the payments made by these companies are included in the consolidated report drawn up by the consolidating company in application of the law to which it is governed.
III.-.The report on payments provided for in I of this article shall mention the amount of any individual payment, or set of payments where they are linked together, equal to or in excess of €100,000 during the previous financial year and which is made to any national, regional or local authority of a State or territory, or to any administration, agency or undertaking controlled, within the meaning of Article L. 233-16, by such an authority, as well as the amount of payments made for each of the categories of payments defined as follows:
1° Production rights;
2° Taxes levied on income, production or company profits, excluding taxes levied on consumption, such as value-added taxes, personal income taxes or sales taxes ;
3° Royalties;
4° Dividends;
5° Signature, discovery and production bonuses;
6° Licence fees, rental fees, entry fees and other licence and/or concession consideration;
7° Payments for infrastructure improvements.
Where such payments have been attributed to one or more specific projects, the report shall also specify the total amount and by category of payments made in respect of each of the projects.
A project means the operational activities governed by a contract, licence, lease, concession or other similar legal agreement or by a combination of such agreements where they are substantially interrelated, and forming the basis of payment obligations.
IV.-The report on payments provided for in I shall be approved by the Board of Directors or the Management Board. It is filed with the commercial court clerk's office, to be appended to the register of companies, within one month of the approval of the annual financial statements by the general meeting of shareholders or within two months of this approval when this filing is made by electronic means. It shall also be published, within the same timeframe, free of charge, accessible to the public and legible on the company's website, in accordance with the conditions laid down by decree in the Conseil d'Etat.
V.-The conditions for the application of this article are laid down by decree in the Conseil d'Etat, in particular with regard to the thresholds provided for in the first paragraph of I, the categories of payments provided for in the first paragraph of III and the publication on the company's website provided for in IV.
VI.-.Failure to comply with the disclosure obligations provided for in IV or publishing partial or erroneous information is punishable by a fine of €3,750.
In addition to this fine, legal entities are liable to the additional penalty provided for in 9° of Article 131-39 of the Criminal Code.
