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Business · French law

Mandat ad hoc or conciliation in France: compare routes

Informational guide. An independent qualified legal review has not been completed.

Mandat ad hoc and conciliation are consensual procedures requested by a business leader to address company difficulties. Their conditions and effects differ: conciliation can include payment cessation lasting no more than forty-five days. Compare the stated situation, confidentiality and agreement sought. This reading aid neither establishes payment cessation nor automatically suspends creditors.

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Illustrative conversation
Example question

Does the leader necessarily remain in management?

Julie Illustration

These procedures are not designed to remove all management powers from the director. Check the actual decisions, mission and commitments nonetheless.

Read the references
French law

3 free questions at signup. Avoid names and sensitive information.

What you leave withA route comparison and facts needing professional classification, without automatic legal selection.

Start with the practical section

Which problem should the consensual procedure address?

Describe the problem: financing maturity, creditor negotiation or cash difficulty. Preventive procedures do not automatically erase debts. Distinguish anticipated difficulties from cessation of payments, which requires financial and legal assessment.

References : Code de commerce L611-3 · Code de commerce L611-4 · Mandat ad hoc · Procédure de conciliation

What distinguishes the two procedures?

Mandat ad hoc is a mission defined by the court president; conciliation is a statutory agreement-seeking framework with conditions and duration. Compare the desired effects before relying only on the word confidential.

What distinguishes the two procedures?
PointMandat ad hocConciliation
MissionDefined in the mandateFacilitate a settlement within the statutory framework
PaymentsPreventive context to examineCessation for no more than 45 days
DurationSet for the missionUp to four months, possible one-month extension
Agreement outcomeTo arrangeRecording or approval: distinct effects

References : Code de commerce L611-3 · Code de commerce L611-4 · Code de commerce L611-6 · Mandat ad hoc · Procédure de conciliation

Which payment facts do you know?

The sheet requests no confidential figures. It separates unknown status, no stated cessation and stated recent or older cessation. Selecting a category does not establish the real date: have available resources, payable debt and cash records examined.

Preventive procedures sheet

Prepare questions without entering private financial data.

Selections are statements only. No certified cessation date, eligibility or recommended procedure.

References : Code de commerce L611-4

How should you read a recent-difficulty example?

A recent difficulty in the fictional case is not automatically cessation of payments. Separate assumed date, payable debts, available resources and desired agreement. The sheet prepares an interview without selecting a procedure for the director.

Worked example · fictional facts

Fictional example: a leader describes recent difficulties whose legal classification is uncertain. The sheet separates the assumed date, cash-flow records and desired effects, without declaring eligibility.

References : Code de commerce L611-4

What do confidentiality and court approval mean?

L611-15 provides confidentiality within its scope. Recording and judicial approval of an agreement have different effects and publicity. Do not promise absolute confidentiality of every later decision or a universal creditor-action freeze merely from filing.

References : Code de commerce L611-15 · Procédure de conciliation

Which documents should you prepare for the court president?

Prepare company identity and activity, difficulties, recent cash records, debts and negotiation counterparts. Keep financial data in the appropriate file. If cessation appears outside the preventive framework, promptly check applicable duties and routes rather than treating this comparison as diagnosis.

  • Dated financial position and payable-debt evidence.
  • Relevant maturities and creditors.
  • Negotiation objective and contemplated commitments.

References : Code de commerce L611-3 · Code de commerce L611-4 · Mandat ad hoc · Procédure de conciliation

What else should you check?

Does the leader necessarily remain in management?

These procedures are not designed to remove all management powers from the director. Check the actual decisions, mission and commitments nonetheless.

Can conciliation run indefinitely?

No. L611-6 provides up to four months with a possible one-month extension within its framework.

Does a consensual procedure erase debts?

No. Negotiations may obtain agreed concessions; filing alone does not erase debts.

Is forty-five days the duration of every negotiation?

No. It is a condition concerning how long cessation has lasted for conciliation, not a universal negotiation period.

Are recording and approving an agreement the same?

No. Conditions, effects and publicity differ. Examine those points before deciding how to formalise the agreement.

Which sources support this page?

Official texts remain in French. The explanations above describe French law. A source check records a reading date; it is not qualified legal review.

  1. Code de commerce L611-3Source checked : · Version from 2021-10-01
  2. Code de commerce L611-4Source checked : · Version from 2010-12-11
  3. Code de commerce L611-6Source checked : · Version from 2021-10-01
  4. Code de commerce L611-15Source checked : · Version from 2006-01-01
  5. Mandat ad hocSource checked :
  6. Procédure de conciliationSource checked :