AFA publishes guide on third-party evaluation with respect to corruption risk

On 8 September 2026, the French Anti-Corruption Agency (“AFA”) published a practical guide on the third-party evaluation pillar within the framework of companies’ programmes for preventing and detecting corruption and influence peddling (under Article 17 of the French Sapin II law). Based on findings from its advisory and audit missions, this publication provides an operational breakdown of the methodology already set out in the Agency’s recommendations, without creating any new obligations. The guide consists of seven practical fact sheets addressing, in particular, the governance of the system, the identification and categorization of third parties, the phased rollout across existing (“stock”) and new (“flow”) third parties, as well as the procedures for evaluation, remediation, monitoring and control, thereby responding to the practical difficulties that many companies subject to the requirement continue to face. > Read the press release

Former Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn seeks postponement of corruption trial alongside Rachida Dati

Carlos Ghosn, who has been a fugitive in Lebanon since 2019 and is subject to both international and French arrest warrants, is seeking a postponement of his trial alongside Rachida Dati for corruption, abuse of corporate powers, breach of trust and influence peddling, scheduled to begin on 16 September. He cites non-compliance with the two-month-and-ten-day notice period required under the French Code of Criminal Procedure for defendants residing outside the European Union, as his summons did not reach him in time. Denying any delaying tactics and stating that he wishes to explain himself on facts he disputes, he has offered to take part in the trial by video link from Beirut. The court will only rule on this request once the hearing opens, while Rachida Dati, who is being prosecuted for corruption and influence peddling as well as for handling the proceeds of abuse of corporate powers and breach of trust, intends to be tried without delay, according to her lawyer. > Read the article

The MoDem parliamentary assistants case: what’s at stake in François Bayrou’s appeal trial

François Bayrou, acquitted at first instance in the case concerning MoDem parliamentary assistants, is being retried on appeal starting 9 September 2026, alongside twelve other defendants. The court had found ten of the more than 130 contracts examined to be irregular and convicted ten defendants of misappropriation of public funds, while dismissing the former minister’s liability, giving him the benefit of the doubt: although it found it “very probable” that several defendants had acted with his authorization, it held that this had not been proven. This reasoning, deemed surprising by Professor Didier Rebut, for whom the lack of evidence should simply have led to an acquittal, revives the debate over the principle of in dubio pro reo, an unwritten yet cardinal foundation of French criminal law: while traces of it can be found in Article 304 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure for cases tried before the cour d’assises, Article 427, which applies to cases before the tribunal correctionnel, makes no reference to doubt. Whereas in the National Front parliamentary assistants’ case the Paris Court of Appeal identified an “industrialized system”, the first-instance court did not identify any such system in the MoDem case. The appeal trial is scheduled to run until 5 October. > Read the article

War in Ukraine: the General Court dismisses the action brought by Mr Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich, thereby upholding the restrictive measures taken against him

On 9 September 2026, the General Court of the European Union (“EU”) dismissed Roman Abramovich’s action against the continuation of European sanctions imposed on him in connection with the war in Ukraine, as well as his claim for compensation for the non-material damage he considered he had suffered. A Russian-Israeli-Portuguese businessman and principal shareholder of the steel and mining group Evraz, he challenged the extension of the freeze on his assets and the travel restrictions imposed by the Council of the EU. The General Court held that the Council had exercised its decision-making power itself and had not delegated it to its preparatory working groups. It also ruled that the criteria for designating sanctioned individuals were objective, sufficiently precise, and proportionate, and that the measures respected the fundamental rights guaranteed by EU law. The General Court emphasized that Abramovich is among the influential businesspeople whose activities generate significant revenue for the Russian state, thereby rejecting his argument that he had been targeted because of his public profile. > Read the press release.