Recommendation 1 Recommendation 2 Recommendation 3 Recommendation 4

Recommendation 5 Recommendation 6 Recommendation 7 Recommendation 8

Market selection

Recommendation 4

Each market must have clear rules assuring investor protection by safeguarding participants from the financial risks of failed settlement and ensuring that listed companies are required to follow sound policies on corporate governance, transfer of economic benefits and shareholder rights.

1.	Does the depository or the market have securities lending and borrowing schemes in place, and are these open to all market participants and their settlement agents?	Yes.
2.	Does the settlement system mark fail trades to market and collect margin from the failing counterparty to protect the innocent counterpart's interest?	Yes, these functions are not performed by Euroclear France but by the clearing house (Clearnet SA).
3.	Does the market operate a guarantee fund or have an equivalent procedure to protect against the cost of failed transactions; and which sectors of the market does it cover?	Buyers are protected from the moment a trade is matched. A membership in Euroclear France is subject to a prior agreement from CECEI and Banque de France. The financial ability of the direct participants to the securities system is assessed and monitored by these entities.
4.	Are the stock transfer agents (share registrars) linked electronically to the depository?	Only administered registered forms are managed by agents and CSDs. There is no market processing for a pure registered form; this is managed directly by issuers.
5.	Is there a legal maximum time period to complete ownership transfers in the books of the issuer? If so, does market practice adhere to the deadline?	Yes. Each agent must provide a 'B.R.N. - Bordereau de Reference Nominative - to the issuer who, after acceptance, will transmit it to the agent of the receiving party. Agents have 7 working days to provide this B.R.N. In the other case, penalties are applied by the CSD to the delivering agent (penalties depend on the period of delay).
6.	Are investors entitled to all benefits arising on a security from the point of purchase; and how are any rules enforced?	The market rule is as follows: Ownership of a security is based on trade date on the stock exchange market, and is based on settlement date on OTC market. Entitlement is tracked by the CSD upon matching of the underlying trade.
7.	Is proxy voting permissible in the market and can such proxies be lodged by post or other remote delivery method?	Yes. Proxy voting is usually always accepted for the major listed companies.
8.	Are there binding rules in the market stating the minimum and maximum lapsed time between the announcement and completion of key events, including registration, the calling of shareholder meetings, the payment of dividends or interest, rights issues, tender offers and other voluntary corporate actions?	It depends on the type of 'announcement': Acceptance by a general meeting, for some events, does not require any deadline: a capital increase for example. Lapsed period for key events officially announced (meaning: agreed by market authorities) depends on the type of corporate event: events such as rights issues or offers are linked to a strict agenda. Other events such as mergers or free bonus issues have an official agenda but the issuing company can decide to prolong the answer period for shareholders (for instance, free bonus shares are usually kept for 30 years at the disposal of shareholders)
9.	Are all voluntary corporate actions advised through a central mechanism assuring consistent information to all investors?	Yes (Euroclear France, Euronext/SBF, CMF, BALO, COB). This information is provided by a sole French provider: Fininfo.
10.	Is information on corporate actions available electronically, and is the minimum lapsed time for responding to such actions sufficient to enable all domestic and foreign investors to respond in a timely and considered fashion?	Information is available in electronic form disseminated by Fininfo. There is also a web site for Euronext but information provided there is delayed by two days after the official publication date. The exercise period or response time depends on the corporate event (e.g.two to three weeks for offers; less than one week for priority subscriptions during which time the underlying shares are blocked from trading.