Business criminal law

Defence of directors and legal entities: 01 87 66 00 48

Mr. Charles Bruguière advises and assists legal entities, their directors, public institutions, elected officials, and other natural persons in all litigation relating to business criminal lawand financial criminal law.

Drawing on experience gained within the Financial Division of the Paris Judicial Court and the regular defence of persons implicated in such proceedings, the firm has developed recognised expertise in economic and financial offences: misuse of corporate assets, money laundering, insider dealing, market abuse, corruption, tax fraud, organised fraud.

What are business and financial criminal law?

Business criminal law and financial criminal law are branches of special criminal law that apply to offences committed in the context of a company's economic activities or a profession related to financial markets.

Economic and financial activities involve numerous criminal risks that may engage the liability of the legal entity, but also that of its director or bodies. The criminal risk is multiple and may have irreversible consequences both for the life of the company (dissolution, exclusion from public procurement, publication of the conviction) and for the natural persons found guilty (imprisonment, management ban, confiscation, criminal record entry).

The penalties imposed on natural persons often have heavy repercussions on the director's personal assets: fines, confiscations, criminal seizures, damages. Business criminal law applies to Criminal Code offences relating to business activities and particular economic rules: the whole of business life is concerned.

Practice areas in business criminal law

To provide operational solutions to all the issues encountered by its clients, the firm offers expertise in the following areas:

• General criminal law and criminal procedure
• Business criminal law (misuse of corporate assets, breach of trust, bankruptcy, fraud)
• Financial criminal law (money laundering, corruption, tax fraud, market abuse)
• Environmental criminal law
• Planning and construction criminal law
• Health criminal law
• Labour criminal law
• Industrial activities and non-intentional offences
• Cybercrime
• Personal data protection

The most common offences

Misuse of corporate assets and breach of trust

Misuse of corporate assets (Article L. 241-3 of the Commercial Code) sanctions the director who uses the company's assets, credit, powers, or votes for personal purposes or to favour another company in which they have an interest. Penalty: up to 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 375,000.

Money laundering

Money laundering (Article 324-1 of the Criminal Code) consists in facilitating the false justification of the origin of property or income of the author of a crime or offence. Penalties are aggravated for habitual or organised money laundering (up to 10 years and EUR 750,000), and TRACFIN plays a central role in detection.

Corruption and influence peddling

Active or passive corruption, influence peddling, and illegal taking of interests expose directors, sales staff, and public officials to penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 1,000,000, with possible confiscation of assets. The Sapin II Act also imposes prevention obligations on large companies.

Market abuse and securities offences

Insider dealing, price manipulation, dissemination of misleading information: these offences are prosecuted both before the AMF (administrative track) and the PNF (criminal track). The firm masters the referral mechanisms and procedure before the Sanctions Commission.

Specialised procedures and courts

The firm intervenes at all stages of the procedure and before all competent authorities:

• Police custody and voluntary interviews before specialised investigation services (BRDA, OCLCIFF, OCRGDF)
• Preliminary and flagrancy investigations conducted by the prosecutor (PNF, JIRS, local financial prosecutor)
• Judicial investigation before the investigating judge (formal investigation, assisted witness, civil party)
• Alternative procedures: CRPC, criminal composition, CJIP for legal entities
• Hearing before the criminal court and the Court of Appeal
• Proceedings before the AMF (Sanctions Commission), the Tax Administration, the ACPR, and the Competition Authority

Our approach to economic criminal defence

Defence in business criminal law rests on three inseparable pillars: procedural mastery, fine understanding of how the company operates, and communication strategy. The firm:

• Conducts a criminal risk audit and identifies incriminating and exculpatory evidence
• Coordinates the defence of natural persons and the legal entity while avoiding conflicts of interest
• Requests procedural nullities and challenges abusive criminal seizures
• Negotiates alternative outcomes with the prosecutor (CRPC, CJIP, conditional dismissal)
• Works closely with the company's usual advisers (tax lawyers, statutory auditors, financial experts)
• Anticipates the civil, social, and reputational consequences of the proceedings

Advisory and criminal risk prevention

Beyond litigation, the firm supports companies in preventing criminal risk: Sapin II compliance programmes, risk mapping, internal audits, director and staff training, management of internal alerts, and support for internal investigations.

Related areas: general criminal law · police custody · judicial investigation.