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.
Your Frequently Asked Questions about
French Sapin 2 Accounting Controls
1. What is effective corruption risk mapping?
The French Anticorruption Agency regularly penalises “above-ground” systems, generic risks that are disconnected from the organisation’s actual corruption scenarios. Effective corruption risk mapping identifies the company’s real areas of risk. It provides answers to the following questions for each of the company’s activities and processes: Is my activity (my process) exposed to a risk of active or passive corruption? In what context? For what purpose? Is it potentially significant? What preventive measures have we put in place? Are they effective? What needs to be changed? Mapping is not a one-time exercise, It must be treated as a living reference document, continuously updated in line with changes in the group, its activities, its geographical locations and its operating methods.
2. How to ensure accounting controls meet the requirements of the anti-corruption French Sapin 2 Law?
French Sapin 2 controls must cover three levels: level 1 (operational execution, transactional validation), level 2 (analytical reviews, targeted investigations carried out by internal control) and level 3 (internal audit, verification of the overall effectiveness of the system). In 2023, 86% of companies audited by the French Anticorruption Agency still had shortcomings in this area. The main cause is not a lack of willingness, but a failure to structure roles, clearly define the scope of accounting controls, and formalise evidence of execution.
3. How can compliance be quickly demonstrated in the event of an audit?
The ability to respond quickly to an audit depends less on the quality of the systems in place than on their documentation and accessibility. Consolidated reporting on audit campaigns, consistent indicators across entities, and a centralised audit trail are the minimum requirements for turning an audit into a controlled exercise rather than crisis management.
