Who oversees risk disclosure at a CAC 40 company: the AMF and the French Duty of Vigilance Law

Pernod Ricard SA is part of the CAC 40, the index of the largest companies listed on Euronext Paris. That places it under two regimes of interest to anyone who wants to bring a fact to a large French company: market supervision by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the duty of vigilance under Law 2017-399. Both deal with transparency and risk, but by different paths and with different consequences.

1. Direct answer

The AMF checks whether the information the company gives the market is complete, correct and timely. The Duty of Vigilance Law (Loi de vigilance) requires large French companies to establish and carry out a vigilance plan to prevent serious violations of human rights, health, safety and the environment resulting from their activities and from those of subcontractors and suppliers with whom they have an established commercial relationship. The first operates through administrative supervision; the second, through formal notice and possible court action.

2. The AMF: what it supervises

• Information to the market: the EU market abuse regulation (MAR, Regulation EU 596/2014) requires issuers to promptly disclose inside information (art. 17) and provides channels for reporting infringements to the competent authorities (art. 32).
• Reports and risk factors: the company's universal registration document must describe material risks, including compliance and reputational ones, and the non-financial performance statement covers social and human rights issues.
• Powers: the AMF may request information, carry out inspections, open an inquiry and, through its enforcement committee, impose fines and other measures.

Whoever reports to the AMF registers the information for analysis. Like other market authorities, the AMF does not usually give individual feedback on ongoing inquiries, and does not resolve individual labor disputes.

3. The Duty of Vigilance Law (Loi 2017-399)

The law applies to companies headquartered in France with a large number of employees (more than five thousand in France, or ten thousand worldwide, counting subsidiaries). Its mechanism has three phases:

1. Vigilance plan: the company publishes, in its management report, reasonable vigilance measures, with five usual elements: risk mapping, regular assessment of subcontractors and suppliers, mitigation actions, an alert mechanism and a monitoring system.
2. Formal notice (mise en demeure): anyone with a legitimate interest may notify the company to comply with its duty. The company has three months to respond.
3. Court route: once the period has passed without compliance, the judicial court may order the measures to be adopted, including under penalty payments, and civil liability for failing the duty of vigilance may be examined.

The law does not deal with temporary work as such. Its reach is the company's chain of commercial relationships, and the legal question is whether the plan and its implementation were reasonable in light of the risks.

4. Differences between the two paths

• Nature: AMF = market supervision; Duty of Vigilance Law = duty of prevention and liability
• Trigger: AMF = any report; Duty of Vigilance Law = notice by someone with an interest
• Feedback to the author: AMF = rare; Duty of Vigilance Law = the company has three months to respond
• Consequence: AMF = administrative sanctions; Duty of Vigilance Law = court order, fines, civil liability
• Focus: AMF = information to the market; Duty of Vigilance Law = prevention measures across the chain

5. How to report to the AMF

The report is made through a form on the AMF website, with a description of the facts and documents. It helps to:

• identify the issuer and the conduct (omitted or misleading information, governance failure);
• state dates and public documents;
• separate facts from interpretations;
• keep the protocol number.

Documents in Portuguese should come with a summary in French or English to ease triage.

6. How to give notice under the Duty of Vigilance Law

1. Identify the parent company headquartered in France.
2. Show the legitimate interest (victim, trade union, organization).
3. Describe the facts, the risks and the connection to the chain of commercial relationships.
4. State what is requested: adoption, adjustment or implementation of the plan's measures.
5. Give formal notice, with proof of delivery, and count the three-month period.
6. Consider filing suit if there is no compliance.

7. How the case reached the AMF and the Duty of Vigilance Law

On 07/04/2026, the claimant filed a dossier on Pernod Ricard SA with the AMF (protocol E2604474). On 05/06/2026, he sent Pernod Ricard SA a formal notice under Law 2017-399, delivered at the company's headquarters in Paris on 24/06/2026. On 16/07/2026, the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance replied to the claimant's communication on the case (ref. MEFI-D26-06155), registering it. On 29/10/2026, the claimant sent a new formal notice to members of the Assemblée nationale and the Sénat, to committees, to two NGOs and to the Élysée Palace.

The underlying facts are Brazilian: temporary hiring by Page Interim, assignment to Pernod Ricard Brasil, a proceeding at the Public Labor Prosecutor's Office (Civil Inquiry no. 005856.2026.02.000/1) and a case before the 50th Labor Court of São Paulo (no. 1000293-10.2026.5.02.0050). Pernod Ricard SA is the parent of the group to which Pernod Ricard Brasil belongs, and it is to it that the AMF and the Duty of Vigilance Law are addressed.

8. What an investor should watch

• Whether the disclosure of human rights risks reflects the public proceedings under way.
• Whether the vigilance plan covers labor intermediaries and personnel service providers.
• Whether the subject appears in sustainability reports, in shareholder meeting questions and in answers to investors.
• Whether there is an alert mechanism accessible to workers of subcontractors.

9. Points of attention

• The AMF is a market authority, not a labor court. It assesses information; it does not decide the individual worker's rights.
• The Duty of Vigilance Law works through notice and then court action. The notice alone is not a decision.
• Documents in French require a sworn translation in court.
• Proof of legitimate interest and of the connection to the chain of commercial relationships is essential.
• Deadlines: three months for the company's response, counted from the notice.

10. Frequently asked questions

Who can give notice under the Duty of Vigilance Law? Anyone who shows a legitimate interest, including victims, organizations and trade unions.

Does the AMF answer individually? As a rule, no.

Does French law reach facts that occurred in Brazil? It reaches the French company's chain of commercial relationships worldwide. The connection to the chain must be shown.

Is the company obliged to answer the notice? The three-month period is statutory; the absence of an answer opens the court route.

What should be done with a French ministry's reply? It registers the communication. It is not a decision on the merits.

Practical cases and advanced questions

Hypothetical example 1: a report to the AMF about incomplete disclosure. An investor notices that the annual report of a CAC 40 company does not mention public proceedings involving its labor suppliers. He may report to the AMF, describing the document, the passage and the omitted proceedings, with dates. The AMF assesses whether the omission is material.

Hypothetical example 2: notice under the Duty of Vigilance Law. An organization identifies flaws in the alert mechanism of a French company's vigilance plan. It gives notice to the company, describes the flaws and asks for correction. The company has three months to answer, and the organization may file suit if there is no compliance.

Hypothetical example 3: documents in Portuguese. A report sent with attachments in Portuguese, without a summary, may be triaged late. A summary in French or English, with a timeline, makes analysis easier.

Question: can the AMF order the company to pay the worker? No. The AMF supervises the market and information. Individual redress is a matter for courts.

Question: does the Duty of Vigilance Law hold the parent liable for facts in Brazil? It may reach the French company's chain of commercial relationships worldwide. The connection between the facts and the vigilance plan must be shown.

Question: where can the vigilance plan be followed? In the company's universal registration document and management report, published on the investor relations website.

Question: what does "legitimate interest" mean? Someone with a direct relationship to the harm or the risk, such as victims, trade unions and rights organizations.

Know your rights: Labor rights guide