French impressions

Investigators always do well to tread warily but special care is needed in navigating the legal obstacles in France, says Anthony Charlton of FTI Consulting

Anthony Charlton (+33 1 70 91 55 70, anthony.charlton@ fticonsulting.com) is a managing director at FTI Consulting, Inc. © FTI Consulting, Inc., 2010. All rights reserved. The views expressed in the article are held by the author and are not necessarily representative of FTI Consulting, Inc. The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual, entity or transaction. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

The Siemens affair provides a good illustration of how l’exception culturelle française extends to investigating (or not) allegations of fraud and corruption in France. Certain facts about the case are, by now, well known, but bear repeating. The scope of the German group’s internal investigation into corruption allegations was unparalleled. Between 2007 and 2008, some 1,750 interviews were conducted in 34 countries, and over 100 million documents were collected and preserved in the context of the investigation.