A bank that executes a wire transfer order for investment purposes acts merely as a payment service provider. As such, it is under no obligation to interfere with the appropriateness of the investment, nor to warn its client of its speculative nature. The bank can only be held liable in the presence of apparent anomalies …
In a judgment of 4 March 2026, the Commercial Chamber ruled that the provisions of Article L. 133-21 of the Monetary and Financial Code do not protect the bank where it has not merely executed the payment order. If the bank itself prepared the transfer order based on bank details containing obvious anomalies, it may …
While the appropriation of a competitor's confidential information does constitute an act of unfair competition, it does not automatically give rise to compensation for financial loss. Only moral damage is presumed, while any material loss or lost profit must be precisely demonstrated. Defamation can only be characterised as such if it has been made public: …
Lire la suite de Unfair competition: financial compensation and denigration
In two recent rulings, the Court of Cassation consistently reiterated that classification depends neither on the contractual designation nor even on the contractual structure of the relationship, but on the reality of the tasks performed, and in particular on the existence of negotiating power, understood broadly. These converging decisions sanction the same error made by …
Lire la suite de Commercial agent or simple service provider? Reality prevails over the contract.
In a ruling dated 7 January 2026, the Commercial Chamber confirmed that Article L. 442-6, I, 2° (former) of the Commercial Code does not require any structural asymmetry of economic power between the parties. A distributor may attempt to subject its suppliers to a significant imbalance even when they have strong brands and alternative outlets. …
A French company that transfers its registered office to the United Kingdom after Brexit does not automatically lose its legal personality or automatically transfer its assets to the newly created foreign company. The Court of Cassation confirms that, in the absence of a legal framework or a bilateral agreement for cross-border transfers of registered offices, …
Court of Cassation, First Civil Chamber, 8 October 2025, No. 23-16.756 (partial cassation). The Court of Cassation reiterates a principle of private international law: a validly stipulated foreign jurisdiction clause is binding on French courts, even when the dispute is indivisible between several defendants. In other words, the special jurisdiction of the court of the …
Court of Cassation, 3rd Civil Chamber, 18 September 2025, Appeal No. 23-24.005 The tenant in a commercial lease may suspend payment of rent as soon as the premises become unfit for use, without prior formal notice. The facts: commercial premises affected by water infiltration The company Le Bourgeon had leased premises to Ms [D] for …
The defence of professional interests cannot justify a collective call for a boycott. The French Union of Dental Surgeons (CDF) has been definitively sanctioned for anti-competitive practices. By encouraging its members to refuse to join healthcare networks such as Santéclair, the union exceeded the limits of freedom of association and committed an infringement of competition law.
The Court of Cassation reiterates that a company cannot warn its competitor's distributors of a risk of counterfeiting in the absence of a court ruling confirming its rights. Such warnings constitute wrongful disparagement, even when they are worded with restraint. Court of Cassation, Commercial, Financial and Economic Chamber, 15 October 2025, No. 24-11.150 The facts: …
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