Corporate Secretarial Services 

What Corporate Secretarial Services in France Cover

Corporate secretarial services in France are the administrative legal function that maintains a company’s compliance with the Code de commerce and its filing obligations with the commercial court registry. The work is distinct from legal advisory: it is operational, repetitive, and deadline-driven. A French SAS or SARL must hold an annual general meeting to approve the accounts within six months of year-end, file the approved accounts with the Greffe, publish appointment notices in a legal bulletin (Journal d’Annonces Légales), update the RCS for any structural change, and keep the legal registers in order.

For a foreign-owned subsidiary, these obligations are typically delegated to a French chartered accountancy firm working alongside the in-house or external legal counsel. The corporate secretarial calendar runs in parallel with the statutory accounts file produced under the Plan Comptable Général (PCG) and, where audit thresholds are crossed, with the commissaire aux comptes mandate.

When Corporate Secretarial Services in France Are Needed

Corporate secretarial work in France is needed in five categories of event:

• Annual approval of accounts — convocation, procès-verbal of the assemblée générale ordinaire, deposit with the Greffe
• Director and officer changes — appointment, resignation, dismissal, with RCS update and legal publication
• Capital movements — capital increase, capital reduction, share class creation, transformation between corporate forms
• Structural events — head office transfer, change of corporate name, mergers, scissions, dissolutions
• Ongoing compliance — UBO register update, share register upkeep, registre des mouvements de titres, conventions réglementées disclosures

Each event carries a defined filing deadline. Missed filings expose the company to Greffe penalties, late-publication costs, and — for material omissions — director liability under articles L. 241 and L. 242 of the Code de commerce.

What Our Corporate Secretarial Services in France Include

Our scope typically covers:

• Annual general meeting management — convocation, drafting of the procès-verbal, attendance sheet, post-meeting filings
• Approval of accounts deposit with the Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce within statutory deadlines
• Director and officer movements — décision unique d’associé or board procès-verbal, RCS update, BODACC publication
• Capital transactions — drafting of resolutions, coordination with the bank for capital deposit, filing and publication
• UBO declarations (registre des bénéficiaires effectifs) — initial filing and updates within statutory deadlines
• Statutory registers upkeep — share register, share transfer register, AGM register, board register
• Conventions réglementées — preparation of the special report and disclosure schedule
• Liaison with the commissaire aux comptes on items requiring auditor consent or specific reports

The French Regulatory Framework for Corporate Secretarial

Corporate secretarial obligations are anchored in the following texts and bodies:

• The Code de commerce — corporate law framework for SAS, SARL, SA, SCA, branches, and partnerships
• The Code civil — société civile framework, used for real estate (SCI) and family-holding structures
• The Décret n° 78-704 of 3 July 1978 and subsequent decrees governing société civile operations
• The Ordonnance n° 2020-1142 of 16 September 2020 — French implementation of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive on UBO disclosure
• Greffe filing rules issued by the Conseil National des Greffiers des Tribunaux de Commerce (CNGTC) and supervised at national registry level by the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI)
• Tax filings coordinated with the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP) where corporate events trigger tax events (capital duty exemptions, IS continuity, VAT registration changes)

The RCS is the central registry. The Kbis is the official document attesting to legal existence, current officer composition, and registered office. Banks, counterparties, and regulators routinely request a Kbis dated within the last three months as proof of corporate status — making accurate and timely RCS updates a practical, not theoretical, compliance item.

Where the entity crosses statutory audit thresholds — bilan ≥ €5 M, chiffre d’affaires hors taxes ≥ €10 M, or 50 employees on two consecutive financial years (Décret n° 2024-152 du 28 février 2024, transposing EU Directive 2023/2775) — the corporate secretarial cycle expands to include the appointment of a commissaire aux comptes, the publication of the appointment in BODACC, and the integration of the audit deliverables into the AG file. Pursuant to article L. 232-22 of the Code de commerce, annual accounts approved by the AG must be deposited with the Greffe within one month of approval (extended to two months for electronic deposits), itself within six months of year-end.

In France vs. Internationally: How the Function Compares

Corporate secretarial work in France differs in form and tempo from comparable obligations in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Italy. Understanding the differences avoids the operational gap that opens when a foreign group transposes its home-country practice onto a French subsidiary.

The French model sits between the open registry approach of the UK and the notary-heavy continental model. Most ongoing acts for an SAS or SARL can be filed without a notaire, but capital is deposited via a bank or notaire at incorporation, real estate transactions involving an SCI run through a notaire, and the Greffe filing path is electronic via the INPI guichet unique since 1 January 2023. UBO transparency is registry-based and time-limited rather than continuous, which means missed updates accumulate quietly until a renewal or transaction surfaces them.

Who Uses Our Corporate Secretarial Services

Our typical clients include:

• Foreign-owned French subsidiaries that delegate the function rather than recruit in-house
• International groups with multiple French entities — operating subsidiaries, holding structures, real estate vehicles — requiring coordinated annual approval cycles
• Private equity funds managing portfolio entities and acquisition vehicles where clean Greffe compliance is a diligence checkpoint at exit
• Real estate investors holding French SCIs and SAS structures requiring annual AG and tax-aligned filings
• Listed groups and regulated entities for which corporate secretarial work feeds into AMF disclosures and statutory audit deliverables

Methodology and Filing Calendar

Our corporate secretarial engagement is structured around a fixed annual calendar plus event-driven interventions.

Annual cycle (12-month rhythm):

1. Receipt of the draft statutory accounts from the accounting team or the in-house controller
2. Coordination with the commissaire aux comptes, where applicable, on the audit report and any conventions réglementées schedule
3. Convocation of the AG within the statutory window (minimum 15 days’ notice for an SAS subject to article L. 225-103 application, shorter where bylaws permit)
4. Drafting of the procès-verbal and circulation for signature
5. Filing of the approved accounts with the Greffe within one to two months of approval
6. UBO register update where shareholder structure has changed
7. Annual update of statutory registers and archiving

Event-driven interventions: Director changes, capital increases, head office transfers, share transfers, conventions réglementées, transformations between corporate forms, mergers, and dissolutions are handled as discrete files with their own resolution drafting, RCS filing, BODACC publication, and tax coordination steps.

Industries Served

Interexco delivers corporate secretarial services to entities operating across:

• Real estate and property investment — French SCI vehicles, SAS de marchand de biens, foncières
• Industrial and manufacturing subsidiaries — French operating subsidiaries of European and global groups
• Technology and software — French subsidiaries of foreign tech groups, including R&D entities claiming Crédit d’Impôt Recherche
• Hospitality and luxury — French entities of international groups in the hotel, wine, and retail sectors
• Professional services and consulting — French branches and subsidiaries of advisory groups
• Holding and family-office structures — patrimonial SCI, holding SAS, and société civile family vehicles

Why Interexco for Corporate Secretarial Services in France

Interexco is a French-regulated chartered accountancy and audit firm with over 40 years of experience supporting international groups. Our Paris headquarters at 30 Boulevard Haussmann is supported by offices in Lille, Milan, and Tunis. The team of nearly 50 professionals works in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Russian.

Corporate secretarial work at Interexco runs in the same office as accounting, tax, and audit — so the annual approval cycle, the statutory accounts production, and the commissaire aux comptes liaison are managed coherently rather than handed across providers. For a foreign group operating a small French subsidiary, that integration is the operational answer to the duplication and version-control errors that typically occur in the first two years after incorporation.

Speak With Our Corporate Secretarial Team

If you operate one or several French entities and need ongoing corporate secretarial support — annual approval cycles, capital movements, director changes, UBO updates — speak with one of our chartered accountants about your structure and filing calendar. We work in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Russian, and routinely coordinate with foreign legal counsel and group secretarial functions across Europe.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do corporate secretarial services in France include? Corporate secretarial services in France include the annual general meeting cycle, statutory filings with the Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce, RCS updates for director or capital movements, UBO declarations, legal register upkeep, conventions réglementées disclosures, and coordination with the commissaire aux comptes where statutory audit applies. Scope is calibrated to the number of entities, their corporate forms, and the frequency of structural events.

Who is legally responsible for corporate secretarial compliance in France? The legal representative of the company — Président for an SAS, Gérant for a SARL or SCI, Directeur Général or Président du Conseil for an SA — is legally responsible for compliance with corporate secretarial obligations. Missed filings, late account deposits, and inaccurate RCS data expose the legal representative to personal liability under articles L. 241 and L. 242 of the Code de commerce. Delegation to a chartered accountancy firm does not transfer the legal responsibility but ensures the operational function is performed correctly.

When must annual accounts be filed with the Greffe in France? Annual accounts must be approved by the shareholders within six months of year-end and filed with the Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce within one month of approval — extended to two months for an electronic deposit, pursuant to article L. 232-22 of the Code de commerce. Late filing exposes the company and its legal representative to fines and, for repeat or material delays, to court-mandated injunctions.

What is a UBO declaration in France and when is it required? The Bénéficiaires Effectifs (UBO) declaration is the disclosure of the natural person(s) who ultimately own or control the entity, filed with the Greffe and accessible through the RCS. The framework derives from Ordonnance n° 2020-1142 of 16 September 2020, transposing the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Filing is mandatory at incorporation and must be updated within 30 days of any change in beneficial ownership.

Can corporate secretarial work be done by a chartered accountancy firm rather than a law firm? Yes — operational corporate secretarial work (AG cycle, Greffe filings, RCS updates, UBO declarations, register upkeep) is routinely delivered by chartered accountancy firms in France. Where structural legal events require legal advice — drafting of complex share class structures, contested transactions, litigation — a law firm is engaged. Interexco coordinates routinely with both in-house counsel and external law firms on the legal-substantive aspects of the file.

Does Interexco handle corporate secretarial for SCI and real estate holdings? Yes. Interexco maintains a dedicated capability for société civile immobilière (SCI), SAS real estate vehicles, and holding structures used by international and family-office investors in French property. The corporate secretarial cycle for an SCI is structurally similar to that of an SAS but with specific filings and tax-aligned distributions handled in parallel.

How does French corporate secretarial compliance differ from UK Companies House obligations? French compliance is event-driven and registry-based via the Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce and the INPI national registry, with separate filings for accounts approval, director changes, capital movements, and UBO updates. UK Companies House obligations consolidate around the annual confirmation statement and the PSC register. France requires a formal AG within six months of year-end with a procès-verbal signed by the chair, where the UK private company can pass written resolutions. The French UBO register is partly public and partly access-restricted following EU case law; the UK PSC register remains fully public.

Do small foreign-owned French subsidiaries still need corporate secretarial support? Yes. The annual AG, the Greffe filing of the approved accounts, the UBO declaration, and the RCS updates apply to every SAS, SARL, and SCI regardless of size. A dormant or single-shareholder French subsidiary is subject to the same filing obligations as an operating entity. Penalties for non-filing scale with delay rather than with company size.