To form a company, you sign the articles of association (all shareholders), a declaration of no criminal record and of parentage for each director and, if a third party handles the process for you, a power of attorney. An electronic signature is valid for these documents as long as it relies on a reliable identification process (Civil Code, art. 1367). The formation filing itself is signed on the guichet unique (one-stop business portal) with a simple signature: a ticked box that serves as a sworn statement. Sources (4)
INPIINPI: signing your filing on the guichet unique
Guichet uniqueGuichet unique: signing
LégifranceLégifrance: Civil Code, art. 1367 (electronic signature)
Service-publicService-public: drafting and registering the articles of association
Who signs what
| Document | Signatories |
|---|---|
| Articles of association | Each shareholder (or the sole shareholder); for a corporate shareholder, its legal representative |
| List of subscribers (joint-stock companies) | The president |
| Declaration of no criminal record and of parentage | Each director |
| Power of attorney to carry out the formalities | The director |
| Formation filing on the guichet unique | The filer, with a simple signature |
Formation, amendment, closure: three levels
- Formation: simple signature on the guichet unique.
- Amendment or closure, filing of annual accounts: advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate, or login via FranceConnect+.
- The articles and other attached documents are not subject to a qualified signature.
Good to know
- Documents are filed as PDFs (10 MB maximum per file).
- At LegalRapide, the documents to sign are generated in your client area from your answers.
Written by Razvan Toma, founder of LegalRapide. How we check our figures · LinkedIn