May 2, 2023 07:48
1 yr ago
41 viewers *
French term

organe statutaire de direction

French to English Bus/Financial Law (general)
Summons for directors of a company with debts. At this point the applicant is trying to say why the directors should be held personally liable for these debts.

"Selon l’article L.651-2 du Code de commerce :
« Lorsque la liquidation judiciaire d'une personne morale fait apparaître une insuffisance d'actif, le tribunal peut, en cas de faute de gestion ayant contribué à cette insuffisance d'actif, décider que le montant de cette insuffisance d'actif sera supporté, en tout ou en partie, par tous les dirigeants de droit ou de fait, ou par certains d'entre eux, ayant contribué à la faute de gestion.
En cas de pluralité de dirigeants, le tribunal peut, par décision motivée, les déclarer solidairement responsables.
Toutefois, en cas de simple négligence du dirigeant de droit ou de fait dans la gestion de la société, sa responsabilité au titre de l'insuffisance d'actif ne peut être engagée ».
Sont des dirigeants de droit, les organes statutaires de direction.
Il s’agira des gérants de société à gérance, des présidents du conseil d’administration et administrateurs de sociétés anonymes, alors même que ces derniers n’assurent pas la direction générale de la société, des présidents et membres du directoire des sociétés à directoire ainsi que des directeurs généraux."

In my experience, statutaire can occasionally mean "statutory" but more often, particularly in a context like this, means "relating to the memorandum and articles". In fact Bridge dictionary says "'statutory' should be avoided", but also suggests, in addition to the memorandum & articles meaning, "organisational", "constitutional".
I have "managing body" for organe de direction. But the text above suggests these are more like entities, and in practice will usually be natural persons, so that sounds a bit strange here.

Discussion

AllegroTrans May 2, 2023:
@ Phil "Yes, it kind of goes without saying that they're specified in the statutes. You could even leave out 'corporate', because that's obvious too"
If all this were true it begs the question whether they are specified by statute (i.e. statute law). The distinction is vital imo and I don't think it's right to resort to the "leave it out" logic. And why squidge Articles of Association into "statutes" - which can, and often does, have a different meaning?
Charlie Bavington May 2, 2023:
Conseil de surveillance? Mentioned at all? My understanding is that they don't count as an "organe de direction" because they supervise such "organes", but I've seen them described as an "o. de d. non-executive" so perhaps the boundary is not clear cut. I do sometimes stick an "executive" into translations that include the word "direction" to emphasise the point if I feel it needs it. Anyway, I think most Eng speakers would consider a Supervisory Board to be "management" in a general sense, so if they're excluded (as I suspect they are), it might be worth bearing in mind.
Steve Robbie May 2, 2023:
organs is used at various points in the UK Companies Act in the relevant sense (whereas "bodies" in that Act generally has the sense of "organisations"). So I would consider using that here.

But I appreciate that the main problem is "statutaire" >> "constitutional organs of management", perhaps?
philgoddard May 2, 2023:
You can just say 'under the company's statutes'.

Proposed translations

+5
42 mins
Selected

management bodies prescibed by the Articles of Association

100% with Bridge - "statutory" is not the meaning if statutaire" - which would generally translate to "légale"
"Management bodies" is a catch-all phrase meaning anything ranging from a sole director to a Board of 50 directors. The precise names given to these and how they are composed will vary between company types

People also ask
What does management body mean?
management body means the governing body of a firm or data services provider, comprising the supervisory and the managerial functions, which has the ultimate decision-making authority and is empowered to set the firm's or data services provider's strategy, objectives and overall direction.

management body Definition: 599 Samples - Law Insider

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Note added at 1 hr (2023-05-02 09:19:20 GMT)
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We'll do a good deal on the price...
Note from asker:
Yup, I'm buying it. Thanks.
Peer comment(s):

agree Conor McAuley
23 mins
thanks
agree Karen Stokes
43 mins
thanks
agree Lara Barnett
5 hrs
thanks
agree Andrew Bramhall : But 'prescRibed' !
8 hrs
Yes of course my SP, thanks
agree Daryo
3 days 1 hr
thanks
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks"
+2
1 hr

corporate governance body (agent)

...dirigeants de droit > as de jure officers.

If natural persons, so private indviduals, work 'backwards' or inductively from the directors' personal liability in an 'action en comblement de passif' and, again, the cognate UK misfeasance proceedings in corporate insolvency.

Perchance 'corporate' is lost on Bridge as a translation used in professional practice for statutaire, part- overlapping with 'organe social'.

... as appointed etc. under the Articles of (BE) Assoc. (AE) Corporation is a bit of a mouthful - so constitutes a bit of a gob-stopper if constantly repeated.
Example sentence:

UK: Misfeasance is a serious claim that can be held against company directors that are experiencing insolvency and may be found guilty of breaching their fiduciary duties.

Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled. Boards of directors are responsible for the governance of their companies. The shareholders' role in governance is to appoint the directors and the auditors..

Peer comment(s):

neutral AllegroTrans : I fail to see how "corporate" ("relating to a company") can be sneaked in here and I think you are doing FHS Bridge an injustice.
23 mins
Good point, but cut to Bridge ! Lux corporate-speak: les fonds empruntant tant la forme *statutaire* que contractuelle paperjam.lu *corporate* & non-corporate funds https://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/traduction/fonds de ...
agree Lara Barnett : I see the idea, agree with format but due to the confusion with current usage of "corporate", I think "Corp+a different suffix" would work better (if there is one in English).
4 hrs
agree philgoddard : Yes, it kind of goes without saying that they're specified in the statutes. You could even leave out 'corporate', because that's obvious too
8 hrs
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