In their published document, the French Anti-Corruption Agency (Agence Française Anticorruption – AFA) and the Financial Markets Authority (Autorité des marchés financiers – AMF) note that in recent years, organized criminal groups have become increasingly active in French financial markets, forming so-called “insider networks.” Their objective is to obtain and exploit confidential corporate information prior to public announcements – such as mergers, acquisitions, or financial performance reports – in order to profit from securities transactions.
These criminal groups often resort to bribery – through cash, gifts, or event invitations – to persuade individuals with access to insider information to cooperate. These individuals may include banking advisors, lawyers, IT specialists, and others involved in a company’s financial or communication activities.
The AFA and AMF warn that such practices undermine investor confidence and damage the reputation of the financial market. Accordingly, they urge companies – especially those subject to the country’s main anti-corruption law* – to urgently review and strengthen their anti-corruption compliance mechanisms.
In particular, companies are encouraged to:
- Include scenarios of private-sector corruption aimed at obtaining insider information in their corporate corruption risk maps;
- Identify employees and contractors who have access to insider information;
- Conduct specialized anti-corruption training for these categories of personnel;
- Update their code of conduct to include examples of such risks;
- Adopt and enforce a gifts and invitations policy;
- Remind employees of internal and external reporting channels for bribery attempts.
The AMF and AFA are ready to provide advisory support to companies on this issue and to receive reports of potential corruption offenses involving insider information.
*The Law of December 9, 2016, No. 2016-1691 “On Transparency, the Fight Against Corruption, and the Modernization of Economic Life” (Loi n° 2016-1691 du 9 décembre 2016 relative à la transparence, à la lutte contre la corruption et à la modernisation de la vie économique), also known as Sapin II, requires organizations with more than 500 employees and annual turnover exceeding €100 million to implement anti-corruption measures outlined therein. These include adopting a code of conduct, establishing an internal whistleblowing system, conducting corruption risk assessments and developing risk maps, implementing due diligence procedures for clients, suppliers, and other business partners, among others. These requirements apply not only to French companies but also to foreign subsidiaries of French companies that meet the criteria, as well as French-based subsidiaries of foreign companies that meet the criteria. Failure to comply with these obligations may result in fines of up to €1 million.
