Legal 500 Ranking 2018 – Industry Focus: IT, Telecoms & the Internet – France – Band 2

March 1st, 2018 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in France | Rankings - (0 Comments)

K&L Gates LLP’s E. Drouard has substantial experience in advising clients on data protection while Claude-Etienne Armingaud specialises in cross-border transactions and outsourcing contracts in the fields of fintech, IoT and big data.

Notable transactional work included Armingaud’s advice to Bridgestone on its €12m share deal with Eliocity/Xee, which also entailed assistance with IT, IP and data protection due diligence. On the data protection front, the practice’s caseload includes advice to Carglass on the implementation of its GDPR compliance programme, and assisting BNP Paribas with its personal data privacy policy. The department’s client roster also includes JCDecaux, Microsoft, SNCF and SloClap.

Source: Legal 500

AMF synthesis of the contributions received on Initial Coin Offering (ICO) regulation in France

February 28th, 2018 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in Blockchain | France | IT | Legislation | Trusted Services and eSignature - (0 Comments)

The French Autorité des Marchés Financiers has recently published a synthesis of the contributions it received in response to its public consultation on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) to obtain stakeholder views on how these new types of blockchain offerings might be regulated.

The consultation included a presentation of ICOs, a warning on the risks they present, a legal analysis of ICOs with respect to the rules overseen by the AMF and the regulatory options proposed by the AMF. Respondents were invited to give their views on all of these points.

The English version of the synthesis can be found here, the French version here and our previous coverage of the consultation can be found here.

First published on K&L Gates Fintech Law Blog.

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Connecting the Dots: U.S. and International Issues and Regulatory Developments on Connected Cars/Autonomous Vehicles, K&L Gates / Access Partnership, Washington, D.C.

December 6th, 2017 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in Artificial Intelligence | Conference | Connected Cars | Data Transfer | Europe | France | IT | Non classé | Privacy - (0 Comments)

Mode information on K&L Gates website

France’s Financial Markets Authority Considers Its Options for Regulating Initial Coin Offerings

December 6th, 2017 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in Blockchain | France | IT | Legislation | Trusted Services and eSignature - (0 Comments)

On 26 October 2017, France’s Financial Markets Authority, the “Autorité des Marchés Financiers” (“AMF”), published a discussion paper focusing on initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) that highlights the (many) dangers that arise from these unregulated transactions and discusses the regulation options that it currently foresees.
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The French Connected Cars “Compliance Package” in EU Pole Position

October 19th, 2017 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in Connected Cars | France | Privacy - (0 Comments)

On 17 October 2017, after about 18 months of waiting, a consultation involving more than 20 players, and two intermediate versions, the French Data Protection Authority (“Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés” or “CNIL”) has released the final version of its “compliance package” on Connected Cars (“Compliance Package”).

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GDPR – New Consultations for GDPR Interpretation Initiated by French Data Protection Authority on the Concepts of ”Transparency” and ”International Data Transfers”

October 16th, 2017 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in France | Privacy - (0 Comments)

In June 2017, the Article 29 Working Party – the gathering the all Member States’ Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) – announced that the five last guidelines to be adopted as companion pieces to the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) would be published in December 2017. Further to this announcement, the French DPA, the CNIL, is now seeking the contributions of the relevant stakeholders impacted by two out of five topics, whether they be sole or joint “data controllers”, “data processors” or “data subjects”.

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France Moves Forward With Proposed Blockchain For Certain Securities Exchange

October 5th, 2017 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in Blockchain | France | Legislation | Trusted Services and eSignature - (0 Comments)

Further to the adoption of Act no.2016-1691, dated 9 December 2016, on Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Modernization of Economic Life (“Sapin II” – see our compliance coverage here) and the public consultation whose results were made public on 30 August 2017 (see our coverage here), the French Ministry of Finance published a draft document aiming at adapting the French legal framework to the use of blockchain technology.

The proposed draft (which may be accessed here in French) address the possibility, for company, to register in a “shared electronic registry”:

  • Negotiable debt securities;
  • Units or shares of undertakings for collective investment;
  • Capital securities issued by corporations and debt securities other than negotiable debt securities, provided that they are not traded on a trading platform

The conditions under which such registration would possible expressly exclude any item admitted to the operations of a central depository or delivered in a system for the payment and delivery of financial instruments. In addition, the bylaws of the issuer must expressly provide for the possibility to use such shared electronic registries.

In any case, the French regulatory framework would subject to French law whenever the issuer is headquartered in France or the issuance itself is already governed by French law.

Additional technical measures will subsequently be devised by a supplementing Decree, in order to provide the required safeguards.

While assessing the relevancy of a blockchain framework for corporate titles remains difficult in the absence of such technical details, all players are welcome to provide the Ministry with observations on the proposed framework until 9 October 2017.

First published on the K&L Gates Fintech Law Blog with Emilie Oberlis.

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France: Securities Over the Blockchain Expected to Get Legal Framework this Fall

September 8th, 2017 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in Blockchain | France | IT | Legislation - (0 Comments)

The French Act no.2016-1691 dated 9 December 2016 on Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Modernization of Economic Life (Or “Sapin II” – see our compliance coverage here) empowered the Government to amend the regulatory framework to facilitate the transmission of certain financial securities through blockchain technology

1)Article 120 of Sapin II “The Government may by way of executive orders within the 12 months following this Act take the measures necessary to (…) … Continue reading

In order to prepare such executive order, the Ministry of Finance initiated last Spring a public consultation, whose results were made public on 30 August 2017.

The 43 contributions included the points of view of local associations, banks, management companies, fintech pure players, academics, law firms and consultants, and provided operational and technical aspects to be taken into consideration in order for the new regulatory framework not to hinder the adoption of blockchain technology, while balancing security and foreseeability for all the players involved.

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References

References
↑1 Article 120 of Sapin II “The Government may by way of executive orders within the 12 months following this Act take the measures necessary to (…) amend the regulatory framework applicable to securities in order to allow the representation and the transmission (via a shared electronic recording device) of securities that are not admitted to the operations of a central depositary or a system of payment and delivery of financial instruments.”

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🇺🇸 What effect will disruptive mobility technology and new personal transportation options have on business models and strategies for automotive manufacturers, The Future of Transportation World Conference

July 6th, 2017 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in Conference | Connected Cars | Intellectual Property | IT | Privacy | Software | Trusted Services and eSignature | World - (0 Comments)

The Laguiole trademark saga: Victory can be a double-edged knife

June 13th, 2017 | Posted by Claude-Etienne Armingaud in Case Law | Europe | Trademarks - (0 Comments)

The European Union Court of Justice confirmed the intellectual property rights owned by the French company “Forge de Laguiole”, but solely in areas in which it pursued an actual business activity.

A decision (Judgement dated 5 April 2017 of the Second Chamber of the EU Court of Justice, No C-598/14 “Szajner”) dated 5 April 2017 of the European Union Court of Justice (“EUCJ”) put an end to the longstanding series of court decisions about the Laguiole trademark before the European Union jurisdictions (“EU Jurisdictions”), on which relied the right for French company “Forge de Laguiole” to keep using its business name. This decision also gave the EUCJ the opportunity to clarify the application of national case law by the EU Jurisdictions within the framework of proceedings based on Article 8 (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 dated 26 February 2009 on the Community trade mark (the “Regulation”).

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