On May 28 2019, the French data protection authority Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) imposed a €400,000 fine on French property management company Sergic for neglecting to maintain the security of and to limit the storage of personal data. This is the first sanction imposed on a French company under the General … Continue Reading
Following a recent data breach, Optical Center has been fined 250,000 euros by The Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL). The website breach allowed public access to invoices, purchase orders, and personal data of customers. On appeal, the French Highest administrative Court (Council of State) lowered the penalty to 200,000 euros. The reduction … Continue Reading
On 5 March, Reed Smith will welcome in-house counsel at pharmaceutical, medical device, and health companies to join a roundtable discussion on how to identify and mitigate risk. Our Government Investigations partners Rosanne Kay and Eoin O’Shea will speak on a panel “Global Investigations of Companies and their People: A Look at Current Issues through … Continue Reading
The ACPR and AMF, French financial regulators, focused on anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism, internal control procedures, conflicts of interest and market abuse infringements in 2016. While the focus may have shifted, financial sanctions made up 90% of the penalties in 2016. In fact, financial regulators’ powers of sanction have drastically broadened over the last decade … Continue Reading
French parliamentarians are considering landmark anti-corruption laws that would be a considerable breakthrough for those in the fight against corruption. The French Constitutional Council must vote on the legislation within one month, and even if it is ruled invalid there are steps to be taken to keep the legislation alive. Some of the changes include … Continue Reading
After being called upon by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to strengthen its anti-corruption efforts, France recently examined draft legislation which would do exactly that. While discussions before the French Parliament are not expected to begin for a few months, the implications of this legislation are expansive, and represent a revolution in French anti-corruption … Continue Reading
Class actions – which are progressively becoming part of the legal landscape in France as “actions de groupe” – will probably soon be extended to personal injury claims against health products manufacturers, suppliers or service providers using health products. On March 17, 2015, a new bill proposal was issued, advocating the creation of a class … Continue Reading
A decision of the French Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d’Etat) dated 24 February 2015 has significantly broadened the scope of the French ‘Sunshine Act’: Whereas initially health care companies were only obliged to disclose the existence of agreements with health care professionals (HCPs), they will now also be required to disclose the remuneration of French … Continue Reading
A significant difference between the French and U.S. and UK legal systems is in the understanding of legal privilege: it does not exist for in-house counsel in France. The French approach is in line with the 2010 Akzo decision, in which the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the requirement … Continue Reading
France has recently adopted the class action system. This system is, however, framed and – temporarily – excludes health- or environment-related litigation. An overhaul is already scheduled in 30 months. Read more on Life Sciences Legal Update.… Continue Reading
This post was also written by Elizabeth B. Carder-Thompson. 2013 was a year of unprecedented scrutiny of financial relationships between manufacturers and health care professionals, such as physicians. Both the United States and France imposed sweeping new reporting and disclosure requirements in an effort to provide transparency and, theoretically, to enable the public – including … Continue Reading
In probably one the longest-awaited decrees in recent French regulation, the French Ministry of Health published on 22 May 2013, the application decree to the French Sunshine Act (dated 29 December 2011) implementing the specific ways and means that health care companies must disclose agreements with health care practitioners (“HCPs”), a term that includes medical … Continue Reading
On 19 December 2012, the French Supreme Court (‘Cour de cassation’) ruled over a case that should remind any international organization that the worldwide adoption of compliance guidelines and of a Code of Conduct is not in itself a sufficient protection against compliance breaches: everything depends on how these tools are implemented locally. The … Continue Reading
A new rule, adopted on 29 December 2011 and published on 30 December 2011 after an unusually expedited procedure due to strong government pressure, will heavily modify the regulatory framework in which healthcare companies, but also to some extent cosmetics companies, operate in France. Besides replacing (next August, but the law has immediately been enforced) … Continue Reading
