Mac Mahon Avocats advises companies, groups and investors facing financial difficulties in Central African Republic. Proceedings there are governed by the OHADA Uniform Act organising collective proceedings for the discharge of liabilities (AUPC), revised on 10 September 2015 and applicable in the seventeen member States of the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa.
The AUPC applies directly: it requires no transposition or national implementing statute and prevails over inconsistent domestic provisions. It provides four routes: conciliation, a confidential out-of-court procedure available before payments are suspended; preventive settlement, a preventive court procedure leading to an approved composition; judicial reorganisation, opened after payments are suspended where recovery is not manifestly impossible; and liquidation of assets, which organises the realisation of the estate.
The AUPC also provides simplified procedures for small enterprises, a regulated status for insolvency practitioners and a directors' liability regime (action to make good the shortfall, personal bankruptcy) whose time limits are a matter of public policy.
The Central African Republic, a member of OHADA and CEMAC, has a commercial court in Bangui; failing that, the ordinary courts have jurisdiction over AUPC proceedings.
Court primarily concerned: Commercial Court of Bangui. Jurisdiction is determined by the debtor's principal establishment, or by the registered office for legal entities.
The Central African economy rests on timber, artisanal mining, agriculture and trading. Landlocked status and dependence on the Cameroonian corridor substantially increase supply costs.
Matters arising in Central African Republic mainly concern: timber and processing, mining, agriculture and trading, transport, telecoms and retail. These activities involve cash cycles, bank financing issues and subcontracting chains whose analysis determines the choice of procedure.
Central African cases require a cautious assessment of realisable asset values and enforcement timelines, in an environment where transport costs via Douala and the availability of bank financing are structural constraints.
The firm acts in an advisory capacity: analysis of the financial and legal position, mapping of liabilities, selection of the appropriate procedure, preparation of the documents submitted to the conciliator or to the expert in preventive settlement, negotiation with banks and trade creditors, and coordination with proceedings opened in France for multi-jurisdictional groups.
Representation before the Central African courts is provided by lawyers admitted to the local bars, with whom the firm works in coordination. This arrangement complies with the territorial rules applicable to the legal profession.
For groups present in both France and Central African Republic, coordination requires identifying each entity's centre of main interests, anticipating the effects of the proceedings on security interests and intra-group guarantees, and addressing recognition of judgments through exequatur. There is no uniform recognition instrument between OHADA and the European Union: each judgment follows ordinary law or the applicable bilateral treaties.
AUPC conciliation is available to a debtor that has not suspended payments; its usefulness depends on the number and nature of the creditors involved.
Value depends on valid titles and permits and on whether they are transferable, points to verify before contemplating any sale.
The OHADA AUPC of 10 September 2015, which applies directly and prevails over inconsistent national provisions.
Commercial Court of Bangui, depending on the debtor's principal establishment.
No. The firm acts in an advisory capacity only, in coordination with lawyers admitted to the local bars.
It requires an exequatur procedure in France, under ordinary law or any applicable bilateral treaty.
Matters within the OHADA area are handled together with partner lawyers admitted to the local bars. Those colleagues, admitted before the competent courts, carry out procedural steps and appear before the courts. Mac Mahon Avocats works alongside them, providing restructuring advice and coordinating the matter from Paris.
This arrangement complies with the applicable professional rules: the firm does not itself provide court representation before the courts of the OHADA member States.
An initial confidential discussion helps identify the appropriate procedure (conciliation, preventive settlement, judicial reorganisation or liquidation of assets).
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Advisory work only, together with our partner lawyers admitted to the local bars, who provide representation before the competent courts. No outcome can be guaranteed: every situation depends on the facts and on the court's assessment.