Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe |
| ISO 3166-1 | FR / FRA |
| Registry | INSEE (via RNE / guichet unique) |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in France and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | Numéro de TVA intracommunautaire (TVA intra.) | DGFiP |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | Numéro SIREN | INSEE (via RNE / guichet unique) |
Sector regulators
ACPR · AMF · Banque de France · ARCEP
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Société à Responsabilité Limitée | SARL | Limited liability; 1–100 members; no minimum capital; managed by gérant(s). The standard SME vehicle. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Entreprise Unipersonnelle à Responsabilité Limitée | EURL | Single-member SARL; sole gérant; same rules apply. Equivalent to a US single-member LLC. |
| Société par Actions Simplifiée | SAS | Flexible share company; ≥1 shareholder; €1 minimum capital; président is mandatory legal representative; most popular form since 2022. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Société par Actions Simplifiée Unipersonnelle | SASU | Single-shareholder SAS; sole actionnaire serves as président and legal representative. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Société Anonyme | SA | Public-type share company; ≥2 shareholders; €37,000 minimum capital; governed by conseil d’administration (PDG model) or directoire + conseil de surveillance; can be listed. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Société en Commandite par Actions | SCA | Partnership limited by shares; ≥1 general partner (commandité, unlimited liability) + ≥3 limited shareholders (commanditaires, liability capped to contribution); ≥€37,000 capital; shares freely transferable. Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Société Européenne | SE | European company formed under EU Reg. 2157/2001; registered office in France; governed as a French SA; €120,000 minimum capital; can transfer across EU member states. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Société en Nom Collectif | SNC | General partnership; all associés bear joint and unlimited personal liability; managed by gérant(s). Closest US equivalent: General Partnership. |
| Société en Commandite Simple | SCS | Limited partnership; ≥1 general partner (commandité, unlimited liability) + ≥1 limited partner (commanditaire, liability capped); no minimum capital. Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership. |
| Entrepreneur Individuel | EI | Sole trader, including micro-enterprise (auto-entrepreneur); unified status since Loi 2022-172 (effective 15 May 2022); personal and professional assets protected by default; EIRL abolished. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Société Civile Immobilière | SCI | Civil real-estate holding company; holds and manages property; not authorized for commercial trading; managed by gérant(s). Closest US equivalent: real-estate holding trust or statutory trust. |
| Société Civile Professionnelle | SCP | Civil partnership for joint exercise of regulated liberal professions (e.g., notaires, avocats, médecins); ≥2 members; registered in RCS; members bear unlimited joint liability. Closest US equivalent: professional partnership. |
| Groupement d’Intérêt Économique | GIE | Economic interest grouping; enables two or more existing businesses to pool resources for a common economic purpose while retaining independence; registered in RCS; members bear joint and several liability; not a primary trading entity. Closest US equivalent: joint venture. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | Any one of: Extrait Kbis · Certificat d’immatriculation RNE |
| Constitutive Documents | Statuts |
| Tax Registration | Mémento Fiscal |
| Operating Permit | Any one of: Déclaration d’activité · Autorisation d’exercice · Autorisation sectorielle · Autorisation municipale |
| Ownership Records | Any one of: Registre des mouvements de titres · Registre des associés |
| Signing Authority | Any one of: PV d’assemblée générale · Résolution de gérance · Procuration |
| Address | Any one of: Contrat de bail · Facture de services · Relevé bancaire |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Extrait Kbis (commercial entities) | Legal Registration |
| Certificat d’immatriculation RNE (non-commercial) | Legal Registration |
| Statuts | Constitutive Documents |
| Mémento Fiscal (TVA certificate, DGFiP) | Tax Registration |
| Déclaration d’activité (guichet unique) | Operating Permit |
| Autorisation d’exercice (guichet unique) | Operating Permit |
| Autorisation sectorielle (sector-specific permit) | Operating Permit |
| Autorisation municipale (municipal operating permit) | Operating Permit |
| Registre des mouvements de titres (SA) | Ownership Records |
| Registre des associés (SARL) | Ownership Records |
| PV d’assemblée générale (board/GA resolution) | Signing Authority |
| Résolution de gérance | Signing Authority |
| Procuration / Délégation de pouvoir (for third-party signatories) | Signing Authority |
| Contrat de bail | Address |
| Facture de services (≤90 jours) | Address |
| Relevé bancaire (≤90 jours) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | Agrément ACPR (banking, payment services, insurance), Agrément AMF (investment services, asset management) |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Kbis issued by Greffe; RNE certificate free via INPI. Both reflect SIREN and current dirigeants. Kbis remains the standard artifact for commercial companies; RNE certificate now legally equivalent for KYB purposes.
- Constitutive Documents: Notarised for SA; sous seing privé permitted for SAS/SARL. Filed with RNE at incorporation via guichet unique.
- Tax Registration: Documents TVA intracommunautaire number. Non-VAT entities: use Avis de Situation SIRENE showing SIREN as fallback.
- Operating Permit: France has no single national general trade permit; declaration via guichet unique (formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr) substitutes for the former CFE process. Some sectors (artisans, professions libérales) require additional qualification proof.
- Sector-Specific License: ACPR (banking: CRD IV / CRR; PSPs: PSD2); AMF (MiFID II / MiFIR; AIFMD). Significant credit institutions: ECB is competent authority; ACPR acts as NCA.
- Ownership Records: Bring statuts (all entity types). SA entities also provide registre des mouvements de titres; SARL entities provide registre des associés.
- Signing Authority: Board/shareholder resolution (PV) required for non-routine acts; notarised POA for external mandataries.
- Address: Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Gérant (SARL / SNC / SCI) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Appointed managing officer; day-to-day authority; registered in Kbis. |
| Président (SAS / SASU) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Mandatory legal rep of a SAS; binds the company vis-à-vis third parties; registered in Kbis. |
| Directeur Général (SAS) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Optional operational executive in SAS; assists the président; distinct role from président. |
| Président-Directeur Général (SA) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Executive chair of SA with combined management and board-chair functions (conseil d’administration structure). |
| Directeur Général (SA) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Executive manager of SA; appointed by conseil d’administration; distinct from PDG. |
| Administrateur (SA) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Member of the conseil d’administration; governance/oversight; not operational. |
| Membre du conseil de surveillance (SA) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Supervisory board member in SA with directoire structure; oversight only. |
| Membre du directoire (SA) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Executive board member in SA with directoire structure; operational management. |
| Mandataire / Procurataire | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Holder of a procuration or délégation de pouvoir; authorized to bind company for specific acts. |
Notes
- Kbis vs. RNE certificate are not identical in legal standing. The Extrait Kbis remains the primary artifact for commercial entities (RCS-registered); the INPI RNE certificate has no autonomous legal validity for judicial proceedings but is accepted for KYB onboarding. Always collect Kbis for commercial companies (SARL, SAS, SA, SNC).
- RNE phase-in teething issues (2023). The 2023 migration from multi-track CFE/RCS/SIRENE system to the unified guichet unique caused widespread data-sync delays; some companies received incorrect SIREN/SIRET updates or dual registrations. Verify SIREN status on both data.inpi.fr and annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr for entities incorporated in 2023.
- SAS president ≠ SARL gérant for signing-authority verification. In a SAS, the statuts may restrict the président’s powers — always check the statuts (not just the Kbis) for any limitations on the scope of authority before accepting a PV or POA.
- Commissaire aux Comptes threshold. Not all SARL or SAS appoint a statutory auditor; mandatory only above two of: €5M balance sheet, €10M turnover, 50 employees (Art. D821-172, Décret n°2024-152 of 28 Feb 2024, eff. 2024-03-01). Absence of a CAC is normal for smaller entities and is not a KYB gap.