This is in a way the second round of the competition between European financial centers launched by Brexit to attract investors and capital. French deputies begin, Tuesday April 2, the examination of a bill, the aim of which is to “increase the financing of businesses and the attractiveness of France”.
Presented by Alexandre Holroyd, Renaissance deputy for French people established outside France, the text, in fourteen articles, intends to strengthen the arsenal of measures deployed since 2017 with a view to attracting financial players to France, with, at the same time, key, jobs and investments.
Labor market reforms and the introduction of the single tax levy, among other measures, have already borne fruit in recent years with the transfer from London to Paris of part of the market activities of several large American banks. In total, this movement created nearly 7,000 direct jobs and promoted the growth of exports of financial services, increasing from 5 billion euros in 2016 to 12 billion in 2023.
Now claiming the title of leading financial center in the euro zone, Paris is keen to transform the experiment. Not only to maintain the gap with London, but above all to continue to attract capital flows. Because “we will not be able to finance the ecological transition and digitalization solely with public money. The State has a role to play, but it is above all private savings that must be mobilized”we explain to the Ministry of the Economy, which has “co-constructed” the text with Mr. Holroyd.
The stated objective is in particular to attract private equity funds, hedge funds (hedge funds), asset managers and even cryptoasset market participants. An approach claimed by the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, who went to New York in December 2023, in order to meet players in these professions, and who plans to repeat the exercise in several countries from the Gulf to over the coming months.
Exemption from the “one share, one vote” principle
However, the flagship measure of the bill aims above all to dissuade French unicorns from choosing a foreign financial center when they decide to enter the stock market. The text provides in fact to authorize these companies to acquire shares with multiple voting rights, therefore to deviate from the “one share, one vote” principle enshrined in the commercial code. A mechanism already authorized under conditions in London and Amsterdam, but especially on Wall Street, and which allows the founders of these companies to access the capital necessary to finance their growth without having to cede control.
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