By Yasmine EDDAM
4 May 2025
Faced with economic or financial difficulties, a company has legal mechanisms at its disposal to try to overcome its problems and ensure its continued existence. Safeguard and receivership are two distinct but often confused collective procedures. Understanding the differences between them, their objectives and how they work is essential for any manager wishing to anticipate or manage a crisis. This guide summarises the key information needed to navigate these complex processes. When is a company considered to be «in difficulty»? Before tackling the procedures themselves, it is important to identify the signals that characterise a company in difficulty. French commercial law is based on precise criteria, but also on broader indicators that should alert managers. The key concept of cessation of payments The decisive legal criterion is «cessation of payments». According to the French Commercial Code, a company is in a state of suspension of payments when it is unable to pay its debts...
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