#Ethics and Compliance:
Due diligence: a quarter of all companies are said to be in breach of the law
NGOs CCFD-Terre Solidaire and Sherpa have revealed that 57 large French companies have failed to publish their due diligence plan. This represents about 25% of the major French multinationals concerned, which are companies with more than 5.000 employees in France or 10.000 including their foreign subsidiaries. This obligation to publish a due diligence is provided by the law on due diligence, adopted seven years ago, which requires these companies and their subcontractors to ensure respect for human rights and environmental standards in their activities and supply chain. Since the law’s adoption, 13 legal actions and 30 formal notices have been implemented, including 7 new cases in 2024. The NGOs are pinning their hopes on the new European directive on the due diligence, which is to be transposed in 2026. It broadens the scope of application and introduces sanctions of up to 5% of the turnover for European companies with more than 1.000 employees and a turnover of at least 450 million euros. > Read article
#Internal investigation:
Harassment: the embarrassment of the investigating employer
According to the French Labor Code and case law, an employee who has been victim of moral or sexual harassment must provide evidence suggesting the existence of such harassment, even if they were obtained by unfair means, and then the employer must prove that the conduct does not constitute harassment. Although an internal investigation is not mandatory, it is often used to establish the truth. However, there is no strict normative framework for conducting such an investigation, and internal ethics charters or codes of conduct are merely tools for organizing the investigation, which can sometimes be contradictory. Also, the absence of a clear framework and the competence of employers investigators can lead to low-quality investigations, as underlined by a decision from the Defender of Rights (Défenseur des droits), recalling the need to respect the principle of shifting the burden of proof and to avoid inappropriate practices. > Read article
#White Collar Crime:
Money laundering: Canada’s second-largest bank fined $3 billion
TD Bank, Canada’s second largest bank, is accused of having enabled the laundering of $670 million, most of which came from synthetic drug trafficking, between 2014 and 2023. Two former bank employees have been indicted for their direct involvement, having facilitated these operations in exchange for gift vouchers. TD Bank has acknowledged its responsibility and pleaded guilty. It has undertaken to pay a $3 billion fine and to change its internal procedures, and has also agreed to a five-year period of probation. > Read article
French authorities seize over €70 million in real estate belonging to Russian oligarchs
The Paris public prosecutor’s office has seized several luxury properties on the Côte d’Azur worth a total of almost €70 million, as part of an investigation into aggravated money laundering against two Russian businessmen, Ruslan Goryukhin and Mikhail Opengeym. These properties, acquired between 2012 and 2014 via offshore companies, raise suspicions of money laundering, notably due to the opaque methods used. This case highlights the evolution of French judicial doctrine, which reverses the burden of proof when it comes to opaque financial arrangements and now requires the beneficiaries to prove the legal origin of the funds. The investigation is also focusing on professional intermediaries, including a notary in Grasse and tax advisors in Monaco, suspected of facilitating these transactions. > Read article
