French anti-corruption developments: Sapin II law proposes new anti-corruption rules for businesses

France's finance minister Michel Sapin presented a proposal for a new law on transparency, anti-corruption measures and the modernisation of the economy to the Council of Ministers on 30 March 2016.

The proposal includes innovations in various fields (transparency of public decisions, effectiveness of financial regulation, greater protection for consumers), including new rules on corruption and ethics violations. At the heart of these new anti-corruption rules lies an obligation for businesses of a certain size to be proactive in terms of preventing corruption. Compliance with this obligation would be monitored by a new agency for the prevention and detection of corruption, the "Service Chargé de la Prévention et de l'Aide à la Détection de la Corruption" (SCPADC).

One of the most anticipated innovations of the proposed law was the creation of a protected status for whistleblowers from all sectors (public and private) and industries. The implementation of this new status, to be based on a definition of the term "whistleblower" and general principles governing "ethical disclosures", was heralded as the conclusion of a legislative process that has gradually broadened the scope of the protective measures in place for whistleblowers, which were first defined in a law adopted on 13 November 2007 on reporting instances of corruption.

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