SAS

The SAS is a limited liability simplified joint stock company formed by a minimum of two people – at least one director and one shareholder – with no limit on the maximum number of shareholders. 

It offers immense flexibility for its owners to design and define the entity’s operations according to their needs in the by-laws of the articles of incorporation. The shareholders freely establish the rights attached to their shares.

The SAS cannot offer financial securities to the public or trade its shares on the stock market or any public exchange. But it may offer private shares to qualified investors or portfolio management companies acting for third parties.

No specified management structure is required for SAS except for the appointment of a company president, who has vast powers to manage the entity’s affairs and represent the company to third parties.

Formation of the SAS requires no board of directors. Requirements to appoint a CPA to audit the financials are based on the number of employees and turnover criteria.

Other social and fiscal regime trade-offs exist with the SAS versus the SARL, making the SAS very popular as a holding company structure for small and medium-sized companies and start-ups.

A SAS entity has to hold an annual shareholder meeting to approve its accounts within six months of closing the last financial year. While there are no local residency requirements for the owner-shareholders, the articles of incorporation require management decisions to be taken in France.

The manager for SAS can be either a natural or a legal person. Legal persons (companies) can also be appointed as directors to manage a SAS entity.

Europe Incorporations can advise you on a SAS entity’s full range of advantages – most notably, its flexibility vis-à-vis the SARL, whose operations are highly prescribed by the Commercial Code.