Stéphane Bonifassi and Victoire Chatelin write about the relatively uncharted territory of out-of-court corruption settlements in France, first legislated in December 2016, followed by regulatory guidelines in January this year. Only four corporate criminal settlements have been made, most recently the June agreement with Société Générale S.A. in coordination with the Department of Justice, about international bribes paid to foreign officials.
Bonifassi and Chatelin write that the guidance from the Ministry of Justice is “especially weak in telling prosecutors under what circumstances they should offer companies settlements and how negotiations should proceed,” and far less instructive than what the U.S. issues for FCPA enforcement.
“Prosecutors have sole discretion as to what they want to do,” the authors note. “Companies are left in an uncertain position: Should they, or should they not, reveal the facts? Will a self-denunciation automatically trigger a settlement?”
