France SAS Company Incorporation

The French government does not impose any nationality or identity restrictions on foreigners registering a French company and does not require EU residency as a nominee director.

At least one shareholder is required to register a French company. This can be a natural person or a company. The French government does not have any requirements or restrictions on the nationality or legal domicile of the shareholders of a French company.

Legally speaking, both SAS and SARL companies are private limited liability companies. However, a SAS company is more flexible in terms of its articles of association than a SARL company, which makes it ideal for public companies.
However, the registration of a SAS company requires a capital verification, which makes the pre-registration process more cumbersome, whereas the registration of a SARL company does not.
However, the French tax office levies an annual social security tax on shareholders holding 51% or more of the shares of a SARL company (see above for a description of the types of SARL companies and how to avoid paying the social security tax), whereas a SAS company is not subject to the social security tax even if there is only one shareholder holding the shares of the company.

Yes, the registered capital must be transferred from a bank account in the name of the shareholders in proportion to their shareholding to the company's provisional capitalization account.

The company's registered capital must be used for the company's day-to-day operating costs, such as paying for goodscosts, to pay accountants, to pay for the services of TKEG Expat.

No. For company-registration purposes a utility bill must be used as proof of address rather than a bank statement. (Note: for bank-account opening, bank statements are accepted as proof of address.)

France requires a sworn/certified translation produced by a sworn translator registered in France. Ordinary translations, or translations produced by a translator not registered in France, are not accepted and may be rejected. A France-registered sworn-translation service is needed where foreign documents (e.g. proof of address used in incorporation or amendments) must be filed.

A KBIS extract must be dated within the last 3 months at the time of submission. A KBIS older than 3 months is generally rejected by the French registry/authority.

Any individual holding more than 25% of the company must be declared as a beneficial owner (UBO). This is assessed by tracing the ownership chain through to the ultimate individual — including through a listed parent company. If a new financial report later shows that an individual crosses the 25% threshold, the UBO declaration must be corrected and supplementary supporting materials may be required.