Key Benefits:
President of the Republic,
On the report of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Economy, Production Recovery and Digital Affairs and the Minister of Finance and Public Accounts,
Having regard to the Constitution, including article 38;
Considering Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the domestic market;
Vu le Trade code ;
Vu le Administrative Justice Code ;
Vu le Labour code ;
Vu la Act No. 2014-1 of 2 January 2014 enabling the Government to simplify and secure the lives of enterprises, including article 6;
See?Order No. 45-2138 of 19 September 1945 amended by establishing the order of the accountants and regulating the title and profession of accountant;
The State Council (Finance Section) heard,
The Council of Ministers heard,
Order:
The order of September 19, 1945 referred to above is amended as follows:
1° In the last paragraph of Article 2, after the words: "of order", are added the words: ", branches";
2° At the 4th of Article 3, after the words: "French degree of accounting expertise" are inserted the words: "or meet the conditions set out in Articles 26 or 27";
3° Article 5:
(a) In the first paragraph, after the words: "Any accountant" are inserted the words: "and any accounting company";
(b) The second paragraph is replaced by the following paragraph:
"Employed accountants of a management and accounting association or branch may, under the same conditions, be responsible for interns accountants";
4° Article 6 is repealed;
5° Section 7 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 7. - I. Individuals who are a national of one of the Member States of the European Union or other States Parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as well as legal persons incorporated in accordance with the laws of one of these States and having their statutory seat, central trading administration or principal establishment in one of these States, who legally exercise the profession of accounting expertise, are entitled to form, for the exercise of their profession These companies are only empowered to use the name "corporate of accounting expertise" and are listed in the board of order.
"The accounting companies meet the following cumulative conditions:
« 1° The persons mentioned in the first paragraph hold, directly or indirectly by a company in the order, more than two thirds of the voting rights;
« 2° No person or group of interests outside the persons referred to in the first paragraph holds, directly or by an interposed person, any part of the voting rights in order to jeopardize the exercise of the profession, the independence of the accounting experts or the respect by the latter of the rules inherent in their status and ethics;
« 3° Only financial securities are available to the public that exclude access, whether or not deferred or conditional, to capital;
« 4° Legal representatives are physical persons mentioned in I, members of the society;
« 5° The member company communicates annually to the boards of the order of which it reports to the list of its associates and any changes to this list.
“The second paragraph of the articles L. 225-22 and L. 225-85 the trade code is not applicable to accounting companies.
“II. ― The persons referred to in I may also constitute companies with the primary purpose of holding securities of accounting companies as well as participation in any foreign legal group that is the subject of the occupation of an expert accountant. These companies are empowered to use the name of "companies of accounting interests" and are listed in the chart of the order. These companies may have incidental activities in direct relation to their object and intended exclusively for companies or groups of which they hold participations. These companies comply with the conditions mentioned in I.
"III. ― If any of the conditions set out in this section are no longer met by an accounting firm or by an accounting company, the board of the order of which it is directed to comply within a period of time, which may not exceed two years, that it sets. In the absence of regularization at the expiry of this period, which was noted by the Board of Order after conflicting procedure, the company is removed from the board of order. » ;
6° Article 7 ter:
(a) In the fourth paragraph of I, the words "accountable expertise" are replaced by the words "accounting expertise";
(b) The III is replaced by the following:
"III. ― Management and Accounting Associations make annual contributions calculated identically to the professional contributions paid by members of the order in accordance with the determination and payment terms set out in the Order-in-Council Rules of Procedure, as provided for in Article 60. » ;
7° After the article 7 quater, it is inserted an article 7 which reads as follows:
"Art. 7 quinquies. - I. Individuals who are members of the other EU Member States or other States parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as well as legal persons constituted in accordance with the laws of one of these States and having their statutory seat, central administration or principal institution in one of these States, who legally exercise the profession of accounting expertise, are entitled to form, for the exercise of their profession, not These branches are only authorized to use the name of "succursal of accounting expertise".
"The branches are not members of the order of the accountants. They are listed in the table.
"Their work is placed under the responsibility of an accounting expert in the branch and an ordinal representative specifically designated in this capacity with the Regional Council of the Order of Accountants by the persons referred to in I.
“II. ― Branches are subject to statutory and regulatory provisions relating to the profession of an expert accountant.
"III. ― Branches pay contributions in the same way and under the same conditions as members of the order. » ;
8° Article 12:
(a) In the first paragraph, after the words: "a management and accounting association", the words ", a branch" are inserted;
(b) In the third paragraph, after the words: "The specific responsibility of the companies members of the order" are inserted the words: ", persons mentioned in the first paragraph of Article 7" and after the words: "on behalf of these societies", are inserted the words: ", branches";
(c) In the fourth paragraph, after the words: "or a corporation listed in the table", the words are inserted: "a branch or an accounting association" and after the words: "by customers" are inserted the words: "or adherents";
9° Article 17:
(a) In the first paragraph, after the words: "Companies of Accounting Expertise" are inserted the words: ", branches", the word "subscribe" is replaced by the words: "justify from" and the words: "that they may take advantage of" are replaced by the word "current";
(b) In the second paragraph, the words: "encouraged by the targeted persons" are replaced by the word: "specified";
10° The second paragraph of Article 18 is deleted;
11° After the fourth paragraph of Article 19, a sub-item reads as follows:
« 4° The proportion between the number of employee accountants whose services can be used by a branch and the number of members of the order exercising effectively and regularly within that branch. » ;
12° Article 20:
(a) In the first paragraph, after the words: "the name of an accounting company", the words are inserted: ", from a branch of accounting expertise";
(b) In the second paragraph, the words: "or authorized accountant" are deleted;
13° Article 22:
(a) In the first paragraph, the words "accountable expertise" are replaced by the words "accounting expertise";
(b) In the second paragraph, after the words: "Authors", the words ", in a branch" are inserted;
(c) After the second sentence of the fourth paragraph, it is inserted a sentence as follows: "A External Auditor and an Alternate Accounts Commissioner shall be designated to monitor the Fund's compliance with all applicable rules and obligations, in addition to Article II of Book VIII of the Commercial Code. The External Auditor may be provided with all the documents and information required for his or her mission. At the end of its control operations, it reports to the meeting of the experts-comptable settlement fund. » ;
(d) In the fifth paragraph, after the words: "to the members of the order", the words ", to the branches" are inserted;
(e) In the eighth preambular paragraph, after the words: "members of order", the words ", branches" are inserted;
14° In Article 23, after the words: "the members of the order", are inserted the words: ", the branches";
15° In the first paragraph of Article 24, after the words: "The members of the order" are inserted the words "and branches";
16° In Article 27:
(a) In the first paragraph, the words: "the European Community" are replaced by the words: "the European Union" and the words: "the French degree of accounting expertise, or a degree judged at the same level and, in this case," are replaced by the words: "a degree recognized at the same level as the French degree of accounting expertise and";
(b) In the third paragraph, the words "European Community" are replaced by the words "European Union";
17° In section 27 bis, the words: "or an authorized accountant" are deleted and after the words: "the old-age credit union of accountants and", the words: "accredited accountants" are replaced by the words: "Authorists";
18° To Article 31 :
(a) In the eighth paragraph, after the words: "the members of the order", the words ", the branches" and the word "administrative" are deleted;
(b) In the twelfth paragraph, after the words: "members of the order", the words are inserted: ", branches represented by the ordinal representative";
19° In the second paragraph of Article 38, the words: "members of the present order" are replaced by the words: "the votes cast by the members of the present or represented order. Any representative can only receive one power. » ;
20° Section 40 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 40. - The Regional Council shall draw up a table of natural and legal persons and branches established in its electoral district who, fulfilling the conditions imposed by the laws and regulations, are entitled to practise as an expert accountant. » ;
21° In the third paragraph of Article 42, the words: "the period of eighties" are replaced by the words: "a period of ten frank days";
22° Article 53:
(a) In the tenth paragraph, the words: "or the management and accounting association" are replaced by the words: ", branch or management and accounting association";
(b) In the eleventh paragraph, after the words: "The members of the order" in the first sentence, are inserted the words: ", the branches" and, in the second sentence, after the words: "by the members of the order", are inserted the words: ", the branches" and after the words: "remove to the members of the order", are inserted the words: ", to the branches";
(c) In the twelfth paragraph, after the words: "The member of the order", the words ", the branch" and the words: "Article 23 of Book I of the Labour Code" are replaced by the words: "Chart III of Book II of Part I of the Labour Code and the applicable collective agreement";
(d) In the thirteenth paragraph, after the words: "The member of the order", the words ", the branch" are inserted;
(e) In the fourteenth preambular paragraph, the words "or authorized accountants" are deleted;
(f) In the seventeenth preambular paragraph, the words: "This shall be decided within three months. » are deleted;
(g) The last sentence of the last paragraph is replaced by the following provisions: "This appeal is not suspensive, subject to the possibility of requesting a stay of execution of the decision under the conditions provided for in the Administrative Justice Code.
23° Article 54:
(a) The first paragraph is replaced by the following paragraph:
"Regional councils shall publish, without their reasons, decisions on suspension or delisting in any appropriate medium. » ;
(b) The third paragraph is deleted;
24° In the third paragraph of section 58, the words "persons or companies" are replaced by the words "physical persons, corporations or branches";
25° In the second paragraph of Article 60, the words "of Article 7 ter" are replaced by the words "of articles 7 ter and 7 quinquies", and after the words "to management and accounting associations", are inserted the words "and to branches" and the words "of the same article" are replaced by the words "of these same articles".
The Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and Public Accounts and the Minister of Economy, Production Recovery and Digital Affairs are responsible for the application of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done on April 30, 2014.
François Hollande
By the President of the Republic:
The Prime Minister,
Manuel Valls
Minister of Finance
and public accounts,
Michel Sapin
Minister of Economy,
productive recovery
and digital,
Arnaud Montebourg