附件3.1。
公司章程
(2024年5月24日,CEO决定更新)
DBV 科技公司
有限公司,股本为9,649,307.80欧元
法国夏蒂翁共和国大道107号 - 邮编92320
南特尔贸易和公司登记号为441 772 522
I. - 公司的特征
第一条 - 表格
该公司以法国股份有限公司(Société Anonyme)的形式成立,设有一个董事会。
第二条 - 名称
公司名称为:“dbv technologies”。
第三条 - 注册办事处
注册办事处位于法国查蒂永(Châtillon)92320年共和国大街107号。
第四条 - 企业宗旨
dbv technologies在法国和所有国家的公司宗旨是:
• | 开发任何创新医疗产品,包括任何药品,或诊断或治疗产品; |
• | 研究,研发,工业制造和营销这些产品; |
• | 使用和开发与这些产品相关的任何专利或许可证,以及一般来说,任何与公司宗旨直接或间接相关的商业,投资或房地产,金融或其他交易,或任何其他类似或相关目的,促进公司的运作和商业发展。 |
第5条 - 任期
公司的任期自在商业和公司登记处登记之日起为九十九年。
第6条 - 股本
股本已设定为9,649,307.80欧元。
该公司分为96,493,078普通股,每股面值为10欧分(每股€0.10)。所有股份已经完全认购,并且全部以现金支付。
第七条 - 股本变动
I. 股本可以通过发行新股或增加现有股份的面值来增加。
新股将以现金支付,或以实物贡献的形式支付,或抵销未清的应收账款,或通过将利润、储备金或股份溢价纳入股本,无论是作为合并或分立的结果,还是基于转让证券附带的权利而行使的结果,包括支付相应金额,视情况而定。
新的股本证券将以其面值发行,或以该金额加股息的方式发行。
只有股东特别大会才有权决定增加股本,基于董事会的报告,其中包含法律要求的披露内容。
但是,股东特别大会可以根据法律规定的条件将此权力委托给董事会。董事会有必要的权力来分期或分次增加资本,确定其条款和条件,记录其完成情况,并根据股东特别大会授予的权限范围内相应地修改公司章程。
如果股东大会决定增加股本,则可以将执行交易所需的权力委托给董事会。如果使用了权力或授权的委托,董事会将在下次股东常年大会上起草补充报告。
如果通过利润、储备金或股份溢价的合并进行资本增加,则股东特别大会将根据股东常规大会规定的法定出席率和多数条件做出决定。在这种情况下,它可能决定碎股的权利不得被交易或转让,并且相关的股权证券必须出售。出售所得将按比例分配给持有人。
增加股份面值的资本增加只能在股东一致同意的情况下决定,除非这是利润、储备金或股份溢价并入股本的结果。
股东有优先购买权,以便以持有的股份数量的比例认购发行的现金股份,以进行资本增加。因行使此权利而购买的股份将是与产生该权利的股份同类的股份,以及通过购买其他可转让证券而产生的股份。
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股东可以在认购期间内卖出其全部或部分认购权。 如果这些权利被剥离出可交易的股票,则这些 权利也可以交易。 否则,它们可以根据与实际股份相同的条件出售。
股东可以个别放弃其优先认购权。
决定增加资本的股东特别股东大会可以根据法律规定的条件和 限制放弃优先认购权,并在董事会和法定审计师根据现行法律法规的规定编制的报告上规定对此的规则。
如果股东特别股东大会或董事会在授权代表时明确决定如此做,则 未按不可撤销方式认购的股份将按股东认购数量较多的股份(按比例认购权的持有情况,并在其请求范围内,情况下)分配给按撤销方式认购股份的股东,但其认购数量超过他们在优先基础上能够认购的数量。
出于任何原因,认购未吸收 资本增加的全部金额时,董事会可以按其确定的顺序使用下面提供的选项,或其中部分:
(i) | 将资本增加限制到认购金额,但一般条件是 至少是已决定增加数额的四分之三,并且此选项在发行时未被股东特别股东大会明确排除。 |
(ii) | 根据股东特别股东大会未作出其他决定,分配股份余额 |
(iii) | 如果股东特别股东大会 明确授权,将认购过程对公众开放。 |
如果订阅没有吸收整个资本增加额,根据这些期权的行使,或者在上述(i)规定的情况下吸收增加额的四分之三,则不会进行资本增加。
但是,董事会可以自动将资本增加限制在未认购股占增加额不到3%的情况下筹集的金额。
在具备或不具备优先认购权的情况下进行资本增加,股东特别大会可以决定在认购期结束后的三十天内以与初始发行价格相同的价格增加证券数量多达初始发行量的15%。
如果资本增加导致股份有零头,持有不足数量的认购或配售权的股东必须安排购买或出售所需权利,以获得整数新股的交付。
II. | 股东特别大会(或董事会如果有授权的情况下)也可以授权或决定进行资本减少,视债权人的权利而定。 |
将股本减少到法定下限以下只能在满足资本增加的先决条件下决定,该资本增加旨在使股本至少恢复到法定最低水平,除非公司转变为其他法律形式。 否则,任何利害关系人均可申请法院将公司清算。 法院在审理案件实质时,如果在决定日公司的股本金额已恢复到法定最低额,就不得命令公司清算。
第8条 - 财政年度
财政年度从1月1日到12月31日。
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II. - ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMPANY
Article 9 - Executive Management exercise method
The executive management of the Company is the responsibility either of the Chairman of the Board of Directors or of another individual appointed by the Board of Directors bearing the title of Chief Executive Officer.
The Board of Directors chooses between the two Executive Management exercise methods based on the unanimous vote of all of its members.
Where responsibility for the Company’s Executive Management is held by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the following provisions concerning the role of Chief Executive Officer apply.
A. The Board of Directors
Article 10 - Composition of the Board of Directors
The Company is governed by a Board of Directors that consists of between 3 and 18 directors.
The Directors are appointed by the General Meeting of Shareholders, deliberating under the quorum and majority conditions for Ordinary General Meetings of Shareholders.
The term of office for the Directors appointed during the term of the company is three (3) years. This term expires at the end of the meeting convened to approve the financial statements for the year just ended, and which is held in the year during which their term of office expires.
By way of exception and in order to allow exclusively for the implementation or maintenance of the staggered terms of office of Directors, the ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders may appoint one or more members of the Board for a term of two (2) years or one (1) year.
The Directors may be dismissed at any time and without any good reason by the General Meeting of Shareholders, deliberating under the quorum and majority conditions for Ordinary General Meetings of Shareholders.
The number of Directors aged over eighty cannot exceed one third of the Board members.
Article 11 - Board Discussions
The Board of Directors meets as often as is required by the Company’s interests at the invitation of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, at the registered office or the place specified in the notice of meeting. The invitation may be issued by any means five days in advance: it may also be issued orally and immediately if all of the Directors and non-voting Board members agree.
The Board of Directors may also make decisions by written consultation of the directors under the conditions provided by law. The Board of Directors may also, at the discretion of its Chairman, make the following decisions by written consultation:
• | cooptation following (i) a death, (ii) a resignation, (iii) when the number of directors has fallen below the statutory minimum, or (iv) when the gender balance is no longer respected; |
• | authorization of sureties, endorsements and guarantees given by the Company; |
• | transfer of the registered office in the same department; |
• | amendment of the articles of association to bring them into line with the conditions laid down by law; |
• | convening of the General Meeting. |
In the event of a written consultation, the Chairman sends to each director, alternatively (i) by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, (ii) by e-mail with acknowledgement of receipt, the text of the proposed decisions as well as all documents useful for his information.
The directors have a period of five calendar days (ending at 11:59 p.m., Paris time, on the last day of this period) from the date of dispatch of the draft decisions to express their vote in writing. The reply is sent alternatively (i) by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, (ii) by e-mail with acknowledgement of receipt, to the attention of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, at the Company’s registered office, if any.
The Board of Directors may only validly deliberate on a written consultation if at least half of its members have replied within the time limit indicated above. Decisions are taken by a majority of the votes of the members who have replied, each member having one vote.
If it has not met for over two months, at least one quarter of the members of the Board of Directors may ask the Chairman to convene the Board based on a determined agenda. The Chief Executive Officer or a Director may also ask the Chairman to convene the Board of Directors based on a determined agenda. The Chairman will be bound by any such requests.
An attendance register will be kept, and minutes will be drawn up following each meeting. The Board may only validly take decisions if at least half of its members are present.
Except where the choice of the method for exercising Executive Management is concerned, decisions will be taken based on a majority vote of the Directors present or represented. The Chairman will have a casting vote in the event that the vote is split.
The Directors and any individuals asked to attend the Board of Directors’ meetings are required to exercise discretion with respect to information of a confidential nature, and which is provided as such by the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
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Article 12 - The Board’s powers
The Board of Directors determines the Company’s guidelines, and ensures their implementation. Subject to the powers specifically assigned to General Meetings of Shareholders, and within the limits of the corporate purpose, the Board will deal with any matter involving the proper operation of the Company, and settle any matters concerning it through its discussions.
The Board of Directors carries out the controls and verifications that it considers appropriate. Every Director will receive all of the information required to fulfill their assignment, and may ask for the disclosure of any documents that they consider useful.
Article 13 - The Chairman of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors elects a Chairman, who must be a private individual, from among its members, and determines their remuneration, in accordance with applicable law. The Chairman is appointed for a period that may not exceed the length of their term of office as a Director. They are eligible for re- election. The Board of Directors may dismiss the Chairman at any time. Any provisions to the contrary will be considered void.
No one aged 75 or over may be appointed as Chairman. If the incumbent Chairman reaches this age during a financial year, their duties will automatically end following the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders convened to approve the financial statements for that financial year.
The Chairman organizes and directs the work undertaken by the Board, and accounts for it at the General Meeting of Shareholders. They ensure that the Company’s bodies operate properly, and especially that the Directors are in a position to fulfill their assignment.
Article 14 - Non-Voting Board Members
The General Meeting of Shareholders may appoint one or two non-voting Board members for the Company who are private individuals, regardless of whether they are shareholders; they will be aged 65 at most on the day of their appointment.
Non-voting Board members are appointed for a period of two (2) years. Their assignment ends after the General Meeting of Shareholders that has approved the financial statements for the year just ended, and held in the year during which their term of office expires.
Non-voting Board members do not receive any remuneration. They may receive allowances determined by the Board of Directors in order to reimburse the expenses that they are required to incur as part of the normal performance of their duties. If the Board delegates a specific assignment to the non-voting Board members or to one of them, they may allocate them an allowance in proportion to the importance of the assignment entrusted to them, as well as a budget for performing said assignment. Non- voting Board members are invited to all of the Board of Directors’ meetings and to all of the General Meeting of Shareholders, and take part in the discussions in an advisory capacity. Non-voting Board members perform a general and permanent advisory and supervisory role at the Company. However, they may not interfere in the management of the Company under any circumstances, or, in general, replace its legal bodies.
B. The Executive Management
Article 15 - Chief Executive Officers and Deputy Chief Executive Officers
The executive management of the Company is the responsibility of a private individual appointed by the Board of Directors bearing the title of Chief Executive Officer, under the Company’s responsibility.
The Board of Directors may appoint one or more private individuals responsible for assisting the Chief Executive Officer, who will bear the title of Deputy Chief Executive Officer, on the recommendation of the Chief Executive Officer. The number of Deputy Chief Executive Officers cannot exceed five.
The Chief Executive Officer may be dismissed by the Board of Directors at any time. The same applies to the Deputy Chief Executive Officers, on the recommendation of the Chief Executive Officer. If the dismissal is not on justified grounds, it may result in the payment of damages and interest.
Where the Chief Executive Officer ceases, or is otherwise prevented from performing their duties, the Deputy Chief Executive Officers will retain their positions and their assignments until a new Chief Executive Officer is appointed, unless the Board decides otherwise.
The Board of Directors determines the compensation paid to the Chief Executive Officer and the Deputy Chief Executive Officers, in accordance with applicable law.
Article 16 - Powers of the Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officers
The Chief Executive Officer is granted very extensive powers to act in the Company’s name in all circumstances. They exercise the powers within the limit of the corporate purpose, and subject to those that the law and these By-Laws expressly assign to General Meeting of Shareholders and to the Board of Directors.
They represent the Company in its dealings with third parties. The Company will be committed even by the Chief Executive Officer’s actions that do not relate to the corporate purpose, unless it proves that the third party was aware that the action exceeded that purpose, or could not ignore this fact in view of the circumstances. The sole publication of the By-Laws does not amount to sufficient proof.
The Board of Directors determines the scope and term of the powers granted to the Deputy Chief Executive Officers, with the Chief Executive Officer’s consent. The Deputy Chief Executive Officers have the same powers as the Chief Executive Officer where third parties are concerned.
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III. - GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
Article 17 - General Meeting of Shareholders
The duly constituted General Meeting of Shareholders represents the entire body of shareholders.
Its decisions, which are taken in accordance with the law and the By-Laws, are binding on all of the shareholders, even if they are absent, disagree, or are incapable. There are three forms of meetings, depending on the purpose of the resolutions put forward:
• | Ordinary General Meetings; |
• | Extraordinary General Meetings; |
• | Special Meetings that bring together the holders of shares in a given class. |
Article 18 - Invitations
The Meetings are convened by the Board of Directors. They may also be convened by the Statutory Auditor or by a court representative, under the conditions and in accordance with the procedures provided for by law.
Meetings are convened by the liquidator(s) during the liquidation period.
The Meetings are held at the registered office or at any other location specified in the notice of meeting.
A notice of meeting is published in the Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires (French Official Gazette, or BALO) at least thirty-five days before a Meeting is held. In addition to the information relating to the Company, the notice specifies the agenda for the Meeting, and the wording of the draft resolutions that will be put forward. Requests to enter points or draft resolutions on the agenda must be addressed to the Company under the conditions provided for by the regulations in effect.
The Meetings are held at the registered office or at any other location specified in the notice of meeting.
Subject to specific legal provisions, the invitation is issued at least fifteen days before the date of the Meeting by a notice inserted in a legal gazette published in the Department where the registered office is located, as well as in the BALO.
The holders of registered shares must be convened under the conditions provided for by the regulations in force.
The notice of meeting must also specify the conditions under which shareholders may vote by post, and the places where, and terms and conditions according to which, they may obtain postal vote forms.
The notice of meeting may be sent, where applicable, with a proxy form and a postal voting form, under the conditions specified in Article 21 of these Articles of Association, or with a postal voting form only, under the conditions specified in Article 21 of these Articles of Association.
Where a Meeting has been unable to take decisions as a result of failing to achieve the quorum required, a second Meeting will be convened, subject to specific legal provisions, at least ten days in advance, in the forms provided for by the regulations in effect.
Article 19 - Agenda
The agenda for Meetings will be prepared by the person convening the meeting.
One or several shareholders, who represent at least the percentage of the share capital specified by law, and acting in accordance with the legal conditions and timeframes, have the option to request the inclusion of points or draft resolutions on the agenda for the Meeting, via registered letter with a request for acknowledgment of receipt.
The Meeting may not discuss an issue that has not been entered on the agenda, which cannot be altered at the time of the second invitation. However, it may dismiss one or several members of the Board of Directors, and replace them in all circumstances.
Article 20 - Participation of Shareholders in Meetings
Any shareholder may participate, personally or by proxy, in the meetings upon proof of identity and ownership of his or her shares, in accordance with the procedures provided for by the laws and regulations in force.
Article 21 - Postal and proxy voting
Postal voting is carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions laid down by the legal and regulatory provisions. In particular, any shareholder may send postal voting forms either in paper form or, if the Board of Directors decides to do so and publishes the decision in the notice of meeting, by electronic means, before the meetings. Proxy forms may be sent either in paper form or by electronic means before the meetings.
If the Board of Directors decides at the time of convening the meeting to allow the transmission of voting or proxy forms by electronic means, the electronic signature of these forms may result from a reliable process for identifying the shareholder, guaranteeing its link with the remote form to which its signature is attached. The vote thus expressed before the meeting by this electronic means, as well as the acknowledgement of receipt given, will be considered as non-revocable writings and opposable to all. The proxy is however revocable in the same way as those required for the appointment of the proxy. In the event of a transfer of ownership of securities occurring before midnight (Paris time) on the second business day preceding the meeting, the Company will invalidate or modify accordingly, as the case may be, the proxy or the vote cast before the meeting by this electronic means.
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Article 22 - Attendance sheet
An attendance sheet containing the information specified by law will be kept at each Meeting.
This attendance sheet, duly initialed by the shareholders present and the proxies, and the shareholders attending via video-conference or another means of telecommunication, in accordance with the legal and regulatory requirements, and to which the powers granted to each representative are appended, together with the postal voting forms, will be certified as accurate by the Meeting Bureau.
The Meetings will be chaired by the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Otherwise, the Meeting will elect its own Chairman.
The tellers’ duties will be performed by two shareholders who are present and agree to do so, and who represent the highest number of votes, both on their own behalf and as proxies.
The Bureau formed in this way will appoint a secretary, who may be chosen from outside the shareholders.
Article 23 - Voting rights attached to shares
The voting right attached to the shares is proportional to the percentage of the total share capital that they represent. Each equity share or dividend share will grant entitlement to one vote. Fully paid-up shares for which proof can be provided that they have been registered in the name of the same shareholder for at least two years do not benefit from double voting rights.
Article 24 - Minutes
The decisions taken at the Meetings will be recorded in minutes that are drawn up in a special ledger held at the registered office, and signed by the members of the Bureau.
Copies or excerpts of the minutes of the decisions will be certified either by the Chairman of the Board of Directors or by the Meeting Secretary. They will be validly certified by the liquidator(s) in the event of liquidation proceedings.
Article 25 - Disclosure of documents
Any shareholder has the right to obtain disclosure of, and the Board of Directors is required to send or make available to them, the documents required to enable them to form an opinion in full knowledge of the facts, and to make an informed judgment on the Company’s management and operations.
The nature of these documents, and the conditions for sending them or making them available to the shareholders are determined by the regulations in effect.
Every shareholder or their representative may seek the assistance of an expert registered on one of the lists drawn up by the courts, in order to exercise their right of disclosure.
The exercise of the right of disclosure entails the right to take copies, except where records are concerned.
Article 26 - Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders
The Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders takes all of the decisions that exceed the powers of the Board of Directors and which do not fall within the remit of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders.
The Meeting is convened at least once a year, within a period of six months following the end of each financial year, in order to approve the financial statements for that year, subject to this period being extended by an order from the Presiding Judge of the Commercial Court ruling at the request of the Board of Directors.
The Meeting is convened on an extraordinary basis every time that this appears to be in the Company’s interests.
When convened for the first time, the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders may only validly deliberate if the shareholders present, represented, or who have voted by post hold at least one fifth of the shares to which voting rights are attached.
No quorum is required if the meeting is convened for a second time and the original agenda has not been amended.
The Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders decides by a majority of the votes expressed by the shareholders present, represented or voting by mail. The expressed votes do not include those attached to shares for which the shareholder has not taken part in the vote, has abstained or has voted blank or null.
Article 27 - Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders
Only the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders is authorized to amend all of the provisions of the By-Laws, and to specifically decide on turning the Company into a company with another legal form. It cannot, however increase the shareholders’ undertakings, except in the case of transactions resulting from a duly executed reverse share split.
The Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders may only validly deliberate if the shareholders present, represented or who have voted by post hold at least one quarter of the shares with voting rights at the time of the first invitation, and one fifth of the shares with voting rights at the time of the second invitation. If the second quorum is not achieved, the second Meeting may be postponed to a date no later than two months after the date on which it was convened.
The Meeting passes resolutions based on a two-thirds majority vote expressed by the shareholders who are present, represented, or have voted by post, or who are attending the Meeting via video- conference or another means of telecommunication, in accordance with the legal and regulatory provisions.
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As a legal exemption to the above provisions, a General Meeting of Shareholders that decides on a capital increase via the capitalization of reserves, profits, or share premiums may pass resolutions under the same quorum and majority conditions as an Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders.
Furthermore, where the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders is required to discuss the approval of a contribution in kind or the granting of a particular benefit, the shares held by the individual making the contribution or the beneficial owner will not be taken into account to calculate the majority. The individual making the contribution or the beneficial owner will not have a vote, either on their own behalf, or as a proxy.
Article 28 - Special Meeting
If there are several share classes, no change may be made to the rights attached to shares in one of these classes without a due vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders open to all shareholders and, furthermore, without an equally compliant vote at a Special Meeting open only to the holders of shares in the class in question.
Special Meetings may only validly discuss matters if the shareholders present, represented, who have voted by post, or who are attending the Meeting via video-conference or via another means of telecommunication in accordance with the legal and regulatory provisions, hold at least one third of the shares with voting rights, where an amendment to those rights is planned, on the first invitation, and one fifth of the shares on the second invitation. Otherwise, the second Special Meeting may be postponed to a date no later than two months after the date on which it was convened.
Special Meetings pass resolutions based on a two-thirds majority of the expressed votes of the shareholders present or represented.
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IV. - THE COMPANY’S SECURITIES
Article 29 - Payment for the shares
At least 25% of the par value of shares subscribed in cash must be paid at the time of subscription, together with the full share premium, where applicable.
The balance must be paid in one or several installments, as called by the Board of Directors, and within a period of five years from the date on which the capital increase was finalized.
Calls for funds are made known to the shareholders via a notice published in the BALO fifteen (15) days in advance.
If the shareholder does not make the required payments on the amount of the shares to which they have subscribed at the times determined by the Board of Directors, these payments will automatically bear interest payable to the Company at the legal rate determined in Article L. 313-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code, as from the end of the month following the date when they are due, without any requirement for a court application or letter of notice. Furthermore, shares for which the required payments have not been made at the end of a period of 30 days as from the sending of a letter of notice to the defaulting shareholder, to which no reply has been received, will no longer grant the right to attend General Meetings of Shareholders and to vote at those Meetings, and will be deducted from the quorum calculation. The right to dividends, and the preferential right to subscribe to capital increases attached to the shares will be suspended. These rights will be recovered once the capital and interest amounts due have been paid. The shareholder may then request the payment of dividends that have not expired, and exercise their preferential subscription right, if the determined timeframe for exercising that right has not expired.
The share capital must be fully paid up before any issue of new shares to be paid for in cash.
Article 30 - Form of the shares - Management of the securities accounts
The shares may be in registered or bearer form, if the legislation allows, depending on the shareholder’s choice.
Issued shares give rise to a registration in individual accounts in the name of each shareholder opened by the Company or any authorized intermediary. These accounts are held under the conditions and in accordance with the procedures provided for by the legal and regulatory provisions.
In order to identify the owners of bearer shares, the company may, under the conditions provided for by the legal and regulatory provisions in force, request, at any time, information concerning the owners of its shares and securities conferring immediate or future voting rights at its own General Meetings of Shareholders.
Article 31 - Transfer of the shares
Shares registered on an account are transferred from account to account.
Cash shares are freely tradable as from the completion of the capital increase. Shares resulting from contributions are freely tradable as from the completion of the capital increase, i.e. the date of the Meeting or of the meeting of the Board of Directors acting on a delegation of authority, which approved the contributions, in the event of a contribution in kind during the term of the company.
The transfer of ownership will result from their registration on the purchaser’s account, on the date and under the conditions determined by law and the applicable regulations, where applicable.
The shares will be freely tradable, subject to the provisions provided for by law.
Article 32 - Crossing of thresholds
Any private individual or legal entity referred to in Articles L. 233-7, L. 233-9, and L. 223-10 of the French Commercial Code who comes to directly or indirectly hold a number of shares representing a percentage of the Company’s share capital or voting rights higher than or equal to 2.5% or a multiple of that percentage, either on a stand-alone basis or in concert, must inform the Company of the total number of shares, voting rights, and securities granting access to the share capital or to voting rights immediately or in the future that they hold, via registered letter with a request for an acknowledgment of receipt sent to the registered office within a period of four trading days, prior to the market close as from the point when they crossed said percentage threshold(s).
The disclosure obligation provided for above also applies under the same conditions when each threshold mentioned above is crossed downwards.
If they have not been reported under the conditions specified above, shares or voting rights that exceed the percentage that should have been reported will be stripped of their voting rights at General Meetings of Shareholders at any Meeting that may be held until the expiry of a two-year period following the date when the notice of interest was made compliant, in accordance with Article L. 233-14 of the French Commercial Code, if a failure to report has been observed, and if one or several shareholders holding an interest of at least 2.5% have made a request recorded in the minutes of the General Meeting of Shareholders.
The above reports will apply notwithstanding the reports on the crossing of thresholds provided for by the legal or regulatory provisions in effect.
Article 33 - Rights and obligations attached to the shares
Each share entitles the holder to a share in the Company’s profits and assets, in proportion to the amount of capital that it represents. Furthermore, each share entitles the holder to vote and be represented at General Meetings of Shareholders under legal and statutory provisions. Shareholders will only be liable up to the amount of the par value of the shares that they hold; any calls for funds above that amount are prohibited. Ownership of a share automatically entails adherence to the Company’s By-Laws and to the decisions of the General Meeting of Shareholders.
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Heirs, creditors, assigns, or other representatives of a shareholder will not be entitled to request seizure of the Company’s assets or securities, or ask for them to be shared out or sold at auction, nor interfere in administrative acts relating to the Company in order to exercise their rights; they must refer to the company records and to the resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders.
Whenever it is necessary to hold several shares in order to exercise a given right, such as in the case of an exchange, reverse share split or allotment of shares, or an increase or decrease in the share capital, or a merger or other corporate transaction, the holders of single shares, or of a lower number of shares than required, may only exercise these rights if they personally arrange for the consolidation, and potentially the purchase or sale of the shares required.
However, in the event of the exchange of securities following a merger or demerger transaction, a capital decrease, a reverse share split or share split, and the mandatory conversion of bearer shares to registered shares, or of the distribution of securities charged to the reserves relating to a capital decrease, or the distribution or allotment of bonus shares, based solely on a decision by the Board of Directors, the Company may sell securities that the beneficiaries have requested to be delivered to them, as long as it has carried out the publication formalities provided for in the regulations at least two years beforehand.
As from the sale, the old securities or the old rights to distributions or allotments will be canceled, as and when required, and their holders will only be able to claim the cash allocation of the net proceeds of the sale of the unclaimed securities.
Article 34 - Beneficial & Bare ownership
The shares are indivisible as regards the Company.
Joint owners of shares are required to have themselves represented to the Company by just one of them, who will be considered as the sole owner, or by a single proxy; in the event of disagreement, the single proxy may be appointed by a court at the request of the first joint owner to do so.
Unless the Company has been notified of an agreement to the contrary, the beneficial owners of shares will validly represent the bare owners with the Company. Voting rights will be held by the beneficial owner at Ordinary General Meetings of Shareholders and by the bare owner at Extraordinary General Meetings of Shareholders.
Unless otherwise agreed between the parties, the preferential subscription right attached to securities belongs to the bare owner where the shares are encumbered by a usufruct interest.
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V. - COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Article 35. - Preparation and approval of the company financial statements
a) | The Board of Directors will draw up an inventory and the annual financial statements at the end of each financial year, and will then prepare the management report. |
Where applicable, the Board of Directors will prepare and publish the consolidated financial statements, together with the report regarding the management of the Group.
b) | The Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders will approve the annual company financial statements within a period of six months following the financial year- end, after familiarizing itself with the management report and the report prepared by the Statutory Auditors; the consolidated financial statements and the report regarding the management of the Group will be presented at that Meeting, if required. |
All information measures will be taken in compliance with the law and the regulations.
Article 36 - Audit of the financial statements
The financial statements will be audited by one or several incumbent, and, where applicable, alternate Statutory Auditors, under the conditions determined by Articles L. 225-218 of the French Commercial Code.
Article 37 - Allocation of the amounts available for distribution
Following the approval of the financial statements, and the recording of the existence of amounts available for distribution, the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders will determine the share of these amounts allotted to the shareholders in the form of a dividend; this dividend will be charged to the distributable profit for the year as a priority.
The procedures for paying the dividends or interim dividends are determined by the General Meeting of Shareholders. Write -down differences are not available for distribution.
If required, the Meeting will allocate the non-distributed portion of the profit for the financial year available for distribution in the proportions that it determines, either to one or several reserves, which may be general or special, which remain at its disposal, or to the “retained earnings” account.
Any losses will be carried forward, unless the Meeting decides to offset them against existing reserves.
VI. - LIQUIDATION OF THE COMPANY
Article 38 - Liquidation
Once it has been wound up, the Company will be liquidated under the conditions determined by the French Commercial Code.
Unless the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders decides otherwise, the liquidator or liquidators will pursue any ongoing business until it is completed.
The net proceeds of the liquidation, following the settlement of the liabilities and payroll expenses, and repayment to the shareholders of the non-amortized par value of their shares, will be divided between the shareholders, taking the rights of the different share categories into account, where applicable.
VII. - MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
Article 39 - Powers
All powers will be granted to the bearers of original copies of these By-Laws, or of copies or excerpts certified as original, in order to carry out all formalities.
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