Where Can You Go To Find Out Company Information In France?

• Published date: 04 June 2021
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Corporate and Company Law, Contracts and Commercial Law
• Law Firm: Logan & Partners
• Author: Ms Victoria Ferguson

In this article we're going to be focusing on what company information is available to the public for companies which are registered in France.

What is the national registry of companies called in France?

In France, company information is held by different bodies.

Infogreffe holds information concerning companies entered on the Trade and Companies Register with Registries of the Commercial Courts. You can access the Infogreffe website using the following link: https://www.infogreffe.com/

The National Industrial Property Institute (INPI) holds information concerning companies entered on the Trade and Companies Register with other jurisdictions (district courts with commercial jurisdiction, mixed commercial courts in the overseas departments and territories). You can access the INPI website using the following link: https://www.inpi.fr/fr

The INPI website is only available in the French language and is primarily focused on intellectual property, promoting innovation and protecting innovative ideas.

The Infogreffe website provides centralised access to information in the business and companies register. It is available in both French and English language and is therefore your best starting point when looking for information about a French company.

What does Infogreffe in France cover?

Infogreffe was established in 1986 and its role is to give internet access to data concerning companies.

According to the Infogreffe website, the records of more than 3.2 million French companies are available on the Infogreffe website. You can search on the Infogreffe website for a business if you know the company's name or its SIREN number (its identification number).

Infogreffe makes the following information about companies available to the general public on a free of charge basis:

• Summary sheets for companies, this includes the registered office address for the company, the Commercial Court at which the company is registered, the legal form of the company (see more below), when the company was first registered and its registration number. You will also see a summary of the company's main activities and find out the number of official documents which have been filed for the company (but in order to view them you would need to pay a fee);
• Key company figures, this includes historic data relating to turnover, profit/loss and workforce numbers (but you would need to pay a fee to view the annual accounts themselves);
• Implementing tracking of a named company. You can use...