Insider dealing: defending investors before the French AMF, from Paris to Casablanca

Moroccan groups invest in Europe, acquire stakes in companies listed in Paris and sit on their boards. They then fall under the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), enforced in France by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). A director who buys, or whose company buys, shares of the issuer on whose board he sits faces an insider dealing charge counted in millions of euros.

Member of the Casablanca, Paris and Montreal Bars and Doctor of Law of Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Maître Abdelatif Laamrani advises and defends investors, directors and companies, with dual French and Moroccan expertise. He is the author of the study Délit et manquement d’initié (November 2026).

Have you received a statement of objections, a sanction decision or a recovery order? Deadlines are very short: the grounds of appeal before the Paris Court of Appeal must be filed within fifteen days or the appeal is inadmissible. Contact the firm without delay.

Can you be sanctioned without having made a profit?

Yes. The administrative insider dealing breach sanctioned by the AMF Enforcement Committee is objective: neither fraudulent intent nor personal profit is required, and an insider who trades is presumed to have used the inside information. In Morocco, by contrast, insider dealing is an intentional criminal offence (Law No. 43-12, Articles 42 to 44).

Absence of profit only matters for the amount of the sanction: proportionality is now where the real debate lies.

The director and the company

• The same facts may ground two sanctions: one against the director, one against the company on whose behalf he acted.
• The company escapes attribution only by showing “legitimate behaviour”: effective internal measures and separation between the board member and the person deciding the purchases.
• A discretionary mandate only protects if it is discretionary in law and in fact: a single e-mail about the pace of purchases is enough to defeat it.
• A holding company whose chairman sits on a listed company’s board is a closely associated person and must notify its transactions.

Litigation: investigation, appeal, cassation

• Investigation: dawn raids and seizure of devices, including e-mail hosted in Morocco but accessible from a phone seized in Paris.
• Appeal to the Paris Court of Appeal: full jurisdiction, no suspensive effect; all grounds within fifteen days.
• Stay of enforcement: granted for manifestly excessive consequences, assessed on documented financial evidence.
• Cassation and the European Court of Human Rights: review of law, Article 6 guarantees.

The sanction outside France and in Morocco

Recovery is carried out by public accountants on a recovery order, challenged before the Paris Court of Appeal (Cass. com., 4 Nov. 2026). Abroad, the sanction travels badly: it is not a criminal fine for mutual legal assistance (Cass. com., 8 July 2026), nor a civil or commercial judgment.

• Service in Morocco: Franco-Moroccan convention of 5 October 1957, 1981 protocol, 1965 Hague Convention.
• Exequatur in Morocco: four obstacles — nature of the title, subject matter, pending appeal, Moroccan public policy.
• Paying from Morocco: exchange control authorisation, tax non-deductibility, related-party rules.

Further reading: our full study (in French), Délit et manquement d’initié, with downloadable PDF.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the insider dealing offence and the administrative breach?

The offence is criminal and tried by the criminal courts; the breach is sanctioned by the AMF Enforcement Committee. Since 2016 the two cannot be cumulated. The breach requires neither intent nor profit.

How long do I have to challenge an AMF sanction?

The appeal lies with the Paris Court of Appeal. If the notice of appeal does not set out the grounds, they must be filed within fifteen days or the appeal is inadmissible.

Can an AMF sanction be enforced in Morocco?

Seizing assets in Morocco requires exequatur from a Moroccan court, which faces four obstacles: the administrative nature of the title, the punitive subject matter, a pending appeal and Moroccan public policy. Assets located in France remain exposed.