#Parliamentary investigation committees and French Court of Justice of the Republic:
Bottled water scandal: Alexis Kohler, General Secretary of the Presidency of the French Republic, summoned by the investigation committee into Nestlé Practices
The General Secretary of the Presidency of the French Republic, Alexis Kohler, has been summoned to appear on April 8 before the Senate Committee of Inquiry into the practices of industrialists in the bottled water sector. According to the Commission, Alexis Kohler facilitated exchanges between members of the French presidency or government departments and the Nestlé group as part of a lobbying campaign whereby Nestlé obtained authorization to use banned filters, in order to market water from contaminated sources. > Read article
# White collar crime
US lift sanctions against Tornado Cash, a crypto ‘mixer’ accused of money laundering
The United States has lifted sanctions against Tornado Cash, a service that anonymises the origins and recipients of cryptocurrency transactions. In 2022, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control had blacklisted the company, accusing it of facilitating the laundering of more than $7 billion, notably for the benefit of North Korean hackers. Some users, supported by Coinbase, challenged these sanctions. The Treasury department decided to withdraw them, while maintaining its vigilance against North Korea’s illicit cyber activities. The announcement pushed up the value of Tornado Cash’s crypto token by 72%. > Read article
In the Sarkozy-Gaddafi trial, the prosecution asks for seven years’ imprisonment and a 300,000 euro fine against the former president.
On March 27, 2025, the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office requested a seven-year prison sentence, €300,000 fine and a five-year ban from holding public office against Nicolas Sarkozy, accused of having benefited from Libyan funds for his 2007 presidential campaign. The former president is charged with bribery, concealment of misappropriation of public funds, illegal campaign financing and criminal conspiracy. The prosecutors described Nicolas Sarkozy as ‘the sponsor of an inconceivable, unheard-of and indecent pact of corruption’. Finally, prison sentences of between 1 and 3 years and fines ranging from €3,750 to €150,000 were requested against Claude Guéant, Brice Hortefeux and Éric Woerth. > Read article
Joint declaration by the Parquet National Financier, the Serious Fraud Office and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Swiss Confederation
In a joint declaration signed on March 20, 2025, the French Financial Public Prosecutor, the Director of the UK Serious Fraud Office and the Attorney General of the Swiss Confederation announced the creation of an International Action Group of Anti-Corruption Prosecutors. The purpose of this new international cooperation instrument is not only to facilitate “increased operational exchanges in the handling of individual cases”, but also to jointly build a global strategy to fight international corruption and breaches of probity. > Read article
#Arbitration:
Report and proposals for reform of French arbitration law
The report on the reform of French arbitration law aimed at strengthening the autonomy of this procedure, was published by the Ministry of Justice on March 26, 2025. It proposes the creation of an Arbitration Code, a clarification of legal sources and a unification of domestic and international arbitration rules, with the concentration of litigation in favour of the judicial judge. The reform also aims to make the rules more flexible, by abolishing certain formalities and recognizing electronic awards. It also aims to make arbitration more protective by offering additional guarantees of arbitrators’ independence and impartiality. Lastly, it extends the powers of the judge and facilitates recognition, enforcement and appeals against arbitration rulings. > Read report
