The First PNF/AFA Common Guidelines

A welcome clarification regarding the expected behavior of companies and administrations under French criminal settlement procedures.

When Law No. 2016-1691 (Sapin II Law) created the convention judicaire d'intérêt public (CJIP), modeled after the American deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), it was feared that the existence of potentially dueling French agencies prosecuting corrupt practices of companies and administrations — the Parquet national financier (PNF) and the Agence française anticorruption (AFA) — might lead to a rivalry that undercut the effectiveness of their actions. But recent joint guidance highlights the PNF and AFA's common understanding of their relations with the stakeholders in pursuit of a common goal of fighting corruption. This alert explores guidance by the French authorities to the settlement of corruption cases in comparison with guidance offered by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO).