Corporate governance in France--the NRE Act

Abstract

In 1995 Marc Vienot, a leading proponent of corporate governance reform, issued his first report with a number of recommendations for listed companies. The second Vienot report followed in 1999. Translating these recommendations into law took almost two years and on May 15 2001, all but the last of Vienot's recommendations were incorporated into the New Economic Regulations. This law introduced a number of modifications to French corporate law which, while incorporating a number of reforms, made no distinction between listed and non-listed companies. This article sketches the highlights of the new law, but is not an exhaustive treatment