Question to an expert
I have a PEA, can I use it to invest in the unlisted?
Like securities listed on the stock exchange, shares and other unlisted securities (“private equity”) can very well be accommodated within a stock savings plan (PEA). They can also be placed in a PEA-PME, a PEA exclusively intended to finance small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized enterprises.
Unlisted securities correspond in particular to shares, investment certificates and shares in limited liability companies which are not admitted to trading on a regulated market or a multilateral trading system.
To be eligible for the PEA, the company issuing these securities must have its registered office in France or in another Member State of the European Union, Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein. And be subject to corporation tax.
Tax exemption
The holder of the plan, his spouse, their ascendants and descendants must not together hold more than 25% of the shares of the company. Nor to have been in this situation during the five years preceding the acquisition of the securities in the PEA.
A strict procedure is provided for registration, through the exchange of three letters between the holder of the PEA, the manager of the plan and the company issuing the securities. Securities already held elsewhere cannot be transferred within the PEA.
Earnings and proceeds made in the PEA are not subject to tax until the day they are withdrawn from the plan. If the PEA is more than five years old, only the social contributions are due. Dividends received benefit from this advantageous taxation, unless they exceed 10% of the acquisition value of the securities.