France does not operate a single unified register of charges and pledges. Security interests are recorded across several distinct official registers, each governed by separate legislation. Establishing the full encumbrance picture of a French entity requires querying each register independently.
Control over a French company is not visible from share registers alone. A pledge over shares — nantissement de parts sociales or nantissement d'actions — transfers voting rights to the pledgee under certain conditions. That transfer does not appear in the commercial register entry. It appears, if at all, in the pledge register and in the company's own records.
What the commercial register showsRegistered charges (*inscriptions de privilèges et nantissements*) filed at the clerk of the commercial court (greffe du tribunal de commerce). Source: Infogreffe / BODACC · verified 2026-09-15 What the pledge-of-shares register showsNantissement of business shares (parts sociales) filed at the greffe; nantissement of listed shares held through a financial intermediary is recorded separately with that intermediary. Source: greffe du tribunal de commerce · verified 2026-09-15 What the agricultural pledge register showsAgricultural equipment and livestock pledges (*nantissements agricoles*) recorded at the prefecture of the département. Source: préfecture registers · verified 2026-09-15 Condition of accessCommercial register extracts and charge inscriptions are available on request from the greffe or via Infogreffe. No registration is required for a basic extract; certified copies require a formal request and payment of greffe tariffs. What no single source showsA consolidated view of all security interests over one entity. Cross-register reconciliation is manual.French law distinguishes several categories of security interest, each with its own registration regime.
Nantissement du fonds de commerce — a pledge over the business as a going concern — is registered at the greffe of the commercial court where the business is registered. The inscription names the creditor, the debtor, the secured amount, and the assets covered. It is publicly accessible.
Nantissement de parts sociales — a pledge over shares in an SARL or SNC — is also registered at the greffe. The entry identifies the pledgor and pledgee, the number of shares pledged, and the duration. Voting rights may pass to the pledgee; the register entry does not always state this explicitly.
Nantissement d'actions — a pledge over shares in an SAS or SA — is not registered at the greffe. It is constituted by a written agreement and recorded in the company's own share register (registre des mouvements de titres). That register is not public. A third party cannot verify this pledge from any official public source without the company's cooperation.
Privilèges du Trésor and social security privileges — tax and social security preferential claims — are published in the BODACC (Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales) when a formal procedure is initiated. Earlier-stage arrears are not published.
Hypothèques and real-property charges — registered at the service de publicité foncière (land registry), not at the greffe. A charge over real property owned by the company requires a separate land registry search.
Equipment and vehicle pledges — registered at specialised registers (GAGE automobile for vehicles, préfecture registers for agricultural equipment).
Source: greffe du tribunal de commerce / Infogreffe / BODACC · verified 2026-09-15
The angle of control is where the French system creates the most significant gaps for a foreign buyer.
A pledge over parts sociales (SARL shares) is registered and searchable. The pledgee's identity is on record. If the pledge agreement grants the pledgee voting rights — which French law permits under Article 2360 of the Civil Code — that fact may or may not be reflected in the greffe entry. The company's articles and the pledge agreement itself govern the voting arrangement. Neither document is automatically public.
A pledge over actions (SAS or SA shares) is not registered anywhere publicly accessible. The company's share movement register (registre des mouvements de titres) holds the record, but that register is an internal document. A buyer relying solely on public registers will not see this pledge.
A fiducie-sûreté — a security trust under French law — transfers legal title to the collateral to a fiduciary. It does not appear in the charge register. It may appear in the company's accounts if the asset transferred is material, but the accounts do not identify the fiduciary or the secured obligation.
Taken together: public registers in France show a partial picture of encumbrances. The gap is structural, not a data quality problem.
Source: Code civil, Articles 2355–2366 (nantissement); Article 2360 (voting rights) · verified 2026-09-15
BODACC publishes formal insolvency proceedings — sauvegarde, redressement judiciaire, liquidation judiciaire — as well as certain privilege inscriptions. A BODACC search by company name or SIREN number returns published announcements.
What BODACC does not show: informal creditor negotiations, mandat ad hoc, conciliation proceedings. These are confidential by statute. A company in a court-supervised conciliation procedure does not appear in BODACC until and unless the procedure fails and a formal insolvency is opened.
A clean BODACC result means no published formal proceeding. It does not mean no financial distress.
Source: BODACC — bodacc.fr · verified 2026-09-15
Every French legal entity has a SIREN number (9 digits) assigned by INSEE. All official registers use SIREN as the primary identifier. A search without a confirmed SIREN risks returning results for a different entity with a similar name.
The SIREN is available from the Sirene database (sirene.fr) and from the greffe extract. Once confirmed, the same identifier is used across:
Cross-register reconciliation using SIREN is the minimum required to produce a consolidated encumbrance picture. It is not automated. Each register returns its own output format; comparison is manual.
Source: INSEE Sirene — sirene.fr; INPI RNE — data.inpi.fr · verified 2026-09-15
The greffe and the RNE (INPI) both hold commercial register data, but their update cycles differ. A charge inscription filed at the greffe may appear in the greffe's own system before it is reflected in the RNE. For time-sensitive queries, the greffe is the authoritative source; the RNE is a secondary aggregation.
BODACC announcements are published after a court decision. The decision date and the publication date differ. A proceeding opened on a given date may not appear in BODACC for several days. Searches should account for this lag.
The service de publicité foncière operates independently of the commercial register system. A charge over real property owned by a company does not appear in any greffe search. The two systems do not cross-reference.
The ceiling of what the sources allow is stated before any engagement.
Public registers in France disclose charges over the business as a going concern, pledges over SARL shares, and published insolvency proceedings. They do not disclose:
The chain breaks at the point where French law does not require public registration. That point is identified and named in the report. What cannot be established from official sources is stated as such — not omitted.
A search across all accessible public registers establishes what is on record. It does not establish what is not required to be on record.
Which register covers pledges over shares in a French SAS? Pledges over shares in an SAS (nantissement d'actions) are not registered at the greffe or any other public register. They are recorded in the company's internal share movement register (registre des mouvements de titres). That register is not accessible to third parties without the company's cooperation. No public search will reveal this pledge.
Does a clean greffe search confirm there are no charges on the company? No. A clean greffe search confirms that no charges have been registered at that greffe. It does not cover real property charges (held at the service de publicité foncière), pledges over listed shares (held with financial intermediaries), fiducie-sûreté arrangements, or unregistered security interests. Each category requires a separate search.
What does BODACC show about a French company's financial position? BODACC shows formal insolvency proceedings (sauvegarde, redressement judiciaire, liquidation judiciaire) and certain privilege inscriptions once published. It does not show confidential pre-insolvency procedures (conciliation, mandat ad hoc), tax arrears before formal enforcement, or informal creditor arrangements. A clean BODACC result is not a solvency confirmation.
What is a SIREN number and why does it matter for a charge search? SIREN is the 9-digit national identifier assigned to every French legal entity by INSEE. All official registers use SIREN as the primary key. A search by company name alone risks returning results for a different entity. Confirming the SIREN before querying any register is the minimum required to ensure the results relate to the correct entity.
Can a pledgee of SARL shares acquire voting rights without this appearing in public records? French law permits the transfer of voting rights to a pledgee of parts sociales under Article 2360 of the Civil Code. Whether voting rights have been transferred depends on the pledge agreement. The greffe entry records the existence of the pledge; it does not systematically record the voting rights arrangement. The pledge agreement itself is not a public document.
What is a fiducie-sûreté and why does it not appear in charge registers? A fiducie-sûreté is a security trust under French law (Articles 2011–2030 of the Civil Code). It operates by transferring legal title to the collateral to a fiduciary for the benefit of a creditor. Because title transfers rather than a charge being registered, it does not appear in any charge register. It may be disclosed in the company's financial statements if the transferred asset is material, but the accounts do not identify the fiduciary or the terms of the arrangement.
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Disclaimer: This report is a factual compilation from official registers and public sources. It is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and contains no legal qualification of the facts established. VLO Law Firm assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@vlolawfirm.com.
Author: Elena Moretti — Partner, Continental Europe, VLO Law Firm