Focus: Foreign investment screening in France

A decree dated 30 July 2026 extends the scope of the 10% threshold under France’s foreign investment screening (IEF) regime to certain French companies listed on regulated financial markets outside the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), as specified in an official list.

To protect France’s strategic interests, certain foreign investments in French companies operating in a defined list of sensitive activities are subject to prior authorisation under France’s foreign investment screening (IEF) regime.

Subject to the other conditions set out in the applicable regulations, the IEF screening procedure may apply, in particular, to transactions carried out by an investor from outside the EU or EEA that result in:

• the investor exceeding the threshold of 25% of the voting rights in a French company;
• the investor exceeding the threshold of 10% of the voting rights in a French company listed on a regulated market in the EU or EEA.

Decree No. 2026-718 of 30 July 2026 extended the scope of the 10% threshold to additional regulated markets.

Previously, this threshold applied to French companies carrying out a sensitive activity within the meaning of the IEF regulations and listed on an EU or EEA regulated market. It now also applies to French companies listed on a specified list of markets outside the EU and EEA.

For these companies, the voting rights threshold that may trigger the IEF screening procedure has therefore been lowered from 25% to 10%.

The requirement that the transaction be carried out by an investor from outside the EU or EEA remains unchanged.

An order dated 30 July 2026 sets out the list of markets concerned. These include the London Stock Exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange, Toronto Stock Exchange, Singapore Exchange, Japan Exchange and Korea Exchange.

The list also includes certain markets in third countries covered by an equivalence decision of the European Commission, notably in Hong Kong, Australia and the United States.