France: recent developments

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has published a short newsletter highlighting developments in law, practice and the AFEP/MEDEF corporate governance code, with regard to female directors and board composition: see here (pdf). The newsletter notes an interesting development:

An increasing number of CAC40 companies that had previously adopted a system of management with a separate chairman and chief executive officer are now choosing to combine these roles under the authority of a single individual, while counterbalancing this concentration of power with the appointment of a 'senior independent director' (sometimes also referred to as a 'vice chairman' or 'reference director')".