What is the Sapin 2 law?
The so-called “Sapin 2” law refers to the law of December 9, 2016 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life. In particular, it created the French Anti-Corruption Agency and instituted protection for whistle-blowers. Under threat of sanctions, it requires companies with at least 500 employees, or belonging to a group whose parent company is headquartered in France with sales in excess of 100 million euros, to take measures to prevent and detect the commission, in France or abroad, of acts of corruption or influence peddling.
What are the obligations under the Sapin 2 law?
These measures include a code of good conduct, internal warning system, risk mappingIn addition, we have developed a code of conduct for our employees, including: customer and supplier evaluation, accounting control procedures, training of exposed personnel, disciplinary measures to punish employees for breaches of the code of conduct, and an internal control and evaluation system for the measures implemented.
Code of conduct
The code of conduct defines dubious practices not to be adopted
The internal alert system
The internal whistle-blowing system warns of suspicious behavior, and protects whistle-blowers. This protection regime has been amended following the transposition into French law in 2022 of the 2019 European directive on the protection of whistleblowers.
Evaluating customers and suppliers
Evaluating customers and suppliers enables us to weed out those with dubious practices
Accounting controls
Accounting controls are designed to detect any corruption or influence peddling.
The training plan
Training plan raises awareness among employees most exposed to the risk of corruption
Disciplinary sanctions
Disciplinary sanctions are applied for breaches of the code of conduct. The law raises the stakes in terms of sanctions: the French Anti-Corruption Agency can impose a fine of up to one million euros on the company and up to 200,000 euros on its representative. The amount of the penalty is proportionate to the seriousness of the breaches and the financial situation of the natural or legal person sanctioned. In order to set an example, the agency can order that the sanction be published, broadcast or displayed (the ” name & shame” system).
Assessment
Continuous assessment ensures that the compliance program is implemented.
How to apply the Sapin 2 law in the workplace?
For internal organization, companies – and their purchasing departments in particular – can draw on the voluntary ISO 37001 standard. This standard provides the framework for the internal deployment of an anti-corruption management system based on the principle of continuous improvement, with possible certification. This system can be linked to a quality policy (ISO 9001), a responsible purchasing strategy (ISO 20400) or a global CSR approach (ISO 26000).
What is compliance?
The Sapin 2 law introduces the notion of ” compliance “, which can be understood as the concern to act ethically and responsibly. The subject of anti-corruption thus joins the CSR theme, as does the 2017 law on duty of care. This law is known as “Sapin 2”, in reference to the first law initiated by Minister Michel Sapin, known as “Sapin 1”, in 1993. This first law aimed to clarify the accounts of political parties and introduced a more competitive procedure for awarding public service delegations. The addition of the Sapin 2 law in 2016 came at a time when France was being singled out within the OECD for some weaknesses in the fight against corruption. The challenge was also for France to regain the upper hand in terms of global regulation, to complement the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (USA, 1977) and the Bribery Act (UK, 2010).
