Reminder on Article 17 of the Sapin II Law
The anti-corruption law Sapin II were enacted in December 2016 in France. The aim is to strengthen transparency and combat all forms of corruption (misappropriation of public or private funds, influence peddling, corruption, money laundering, illegal interest acquisition, etc.). As part of this, Article 17 of the law requires all companies, subject to the law, to implement a system for preventing corruption and influence peddling, including anti-corruption accounting controls.
Article 17 applies to:
- French companies with more than 500 employees and annual revenue exceeding 100 million euros. This includes French subsidiaries of foreign groups that meet these thresholds
- Companies within a group whose parent company is headquartered in France and meets the Sapin II eligibility criteria individually or at a consolidated level, including all foreign subsidiaries
The Creation of AFA (French Anti-Corruption Agency)
The Sapin II law led to the establishment of the AFA (French Anti-Corruption Agency), which is tasked with preventing and combating corruption in France through three main missions:
- Support for economic actors through the publication of recommendations, guides, and reports, awareness and training initiatives, and assisting companies in their compliance programs
- Control and evaluation by auditing the implementation of anti-corruption measures within businesses and public organisations
- Sanctions for violations through administrative penalties
We are all committed to fighting fraud and corruption. By using Geoficiency, we are actively contributing to a more secure and compliant financial environment.
Olivier Warneck,
Director of Accounting for the SPIE Group
