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🇫🇷 Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) requirements for French companies

  • Updated

Need help with UBO guidelines for a company registered in France? This page will show you how to find your company's UBO information and the documents you need.

UBO term 

In France, a UBO is called the "bénéficiaire effectif"1.

Accessing UBO information

You can access this data on either the Data INPI ("Institut national de la propriété industrielle"2) or Infogreffe websites.

UBO document requirements

For French companies, depending on your "Registre du commerce et des sociétés"3 (RCS) registration status, our KYC team might ask for your UBO document. This document should include:

  • Reasons for UBO status (ownership percentage, legal representative).
  • Personal information (date of birth, name, place of birth, nationality).
  • Country of residence.
  • Company registration number.

If your company is under the ownership of another company, you're required to submit the official proof of registration document for the owning company, such as a Kbis extract.

Approved UBO documents

If the KYC team can't access your UBO document, you'll need to submit a UBO declaration. These are the accepted documents:

  • Companies created after January 2023: an official "Copie intégrale des informations déclarées"4.
  • Companies created after January 2021: a "Declaration Relative au(x) Beneficiaire(s) Effectif(s) d'une Societe"5 (Cerfa 16062*01).
  • Companies created before January 2021: a "Document Relatif au Bénéficiaire Effectif"6 (DBE-S-1).

French company UBO documents must be validated by the registrar.

Copie intégrale des informations déclarées 

  1. Authenticated document issued by the "Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce"7 in a French city.
  2. Document title: your document indicates that it is a Copie intégrale des informations déclarées meant for a "registre bénéficiaire effectif"8.
  3. Date: clearly visible date indicating when the declaration was made.
  4. Company identification details: RCS registration number and the company name.
  5. UBO information: their date and place of birth, nationality, and personal address, when they became a UBO, and the type of control they hold in the company.
  6. Registrars stamp and signature.

registre bénéficiaire effectif.png

Declaration Relative au(x) Beneficiaire(s) Effectif(s) d'une Societe (Cerfa 16062*01)

  1. Official form issued and stamped by "Centre d'enregistrement et de révision des formulaires administratifs"9 (CERFA).
  2. Document title: your document indicates that it is a "Declaration Relative au(x) Beneficiaire(s) Effectif(s) d'une Societe".
  3. UBO information: their date and place of birth, nationality, and personal address, when they became a UBO, and the type of control they hold in the company.

Societe (Cerfa 1606201).png

Document Relatif au Bénéficiaire Effectif d'une Societe (DBE-S-1)

  1. Official form issued and stamped by the "Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce" in a French city.
  2. Document title: your document indicates that it is a "Declaration Relative au(x) Beneficiaire(s) Effectif(s) d'une Societe".
  3. Company identification details: company name, unique identification number (SIREN), RCS registration details and the company address.
  4. UBO information: their date and place of birth, nationality, and personal address, when they became a UBO, and the type of control they hold in the company.
  5. Other information: an option to select if there are no UBOs in the company, or if there are attached documents.

Group 177.png

If you have further questions, submit a request to Swan Support.

Footnotes

  1. "Bénéficiaire effectif translates" to "Effective Beneficiary."
  2. "Institut national de la propriété industrielle" is the French term for National Institute of Industrial Property.
  3. "Registre du commerce et des sociétés" is referring to the Register of Commerce and Companies.
  4. "Copie intégrale des informations déclarées" translates to "Complete copy of the declared information."
  5. "Declaration Relative au(x) Beneficiaire(s) Effectif(s) d'une Societe" (Cerfa 1606201*) is the Declaration Form for the Effective Beneficiary(ies) of a Company (Cerfa 1606201*).
  6. "Document Relatif au Bénéficiaire Effectif" (DBE-S-1) is the Document Related to the Effective Beneficiary (DBE-S-1).
  7. "Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce" signifies the Registrar's Office of the Commercial Court.
  8. "Registre bénéficiaire effectif" is the Register of Effective Beneficiaries.
  9. "Centre d'enregistrement et de révision des formulaires administratifs" (CERFA) refers to the Center for the Registration and Revision of Administrative Forms.