Payment can be made immediately, subject to any tax formality.
Payment in kind might be subject to specific formalities based on the type of asset.
The decision to distribute a dividend must be made within 9 months of the end of the fiscal year – such time period may be extended by decision of the President of the Commercial Court.
Interim dividend and exceptional distribution of reserves may be decided at any time.
A standard distribution of dividends or an exceptional distribution of reserves require the audited annual accounts pertaining to the last fiscal year, which must be prepared in accordance with French GAAP rules.
An interim dividend distribution requires interim accounts which must be certified by the statutory auditor and prepared in accordance with French GAAP rules.
Solvency test: for stock corporations, the distribution cannot result in the net equity being below half of the amount of the share capital. Thin capitalization rules may also apply.
The only way to increase the reserves of a French company is to allocate the "distributed profit" pertaining to the last fiscal year and the positive balance carried forward, if any, to the reserves accounts.
Yes. The management must however ensure that it would be in the corporate interest to take out a loan. Loans from third parties should be reviewed even more carefully. Likewise, the deductibility of interests issue should be reviewed.
From a labor perspective, the prior information and consultation of the Social and Economic Committee (Works Council) should be discussed with the French HR team (in particular with regards current practice of the Social and Economic Committee (Works Council)).