Mac Mahon Avocats advises, through its dedicated Morocco Desk based in Paris, companies operating in Fes on the prevention and treatment of financial distress. The engagement is strictly limited to restructuring advisory: prevention, negotiation, turnaround.
Fes is one of the Kingdom's main metropolises and the second largest university and industrial hub in northern Morocco, with a manufacturing base (leather, textile, mechanical, agri-food) and structured industrial zones (Aïn Cheggag, Bensouda). Companies in the region face liquidity, bank debt and family-business succession issues.
The reform of Book V of the Moroccan Commercial Code (distress prevention and treatment) calls for early strategic analysis. The Morocco Desk delivers combined Moroccan-French legal reading whenever the group is exposed to both jurisdictions.
Out of scope: judicial representation before Moroccan courts. For local filings, coordination with counsel admitted to the Fes or Casablanca bar.
Strategic meetings by video, targeted trips to Fes for critical phases (bank negotiations, creditor committees), memos in French, English or Arabic depending on recipients.
The Commercial Court of Fes hears cases at first instance, and the Commercial Court of Appeal of Fes — one of the Kingdom's three commercial appellate courts alongside Casablanca and Marrakech — hears appeals for a district extending well beyond the city. These courts are organised by Decree no. 2-97-771 (28 October 1997), issued under Law no. 53-95.
Mac Mahon Avocats does not appear before Moroccan courts; this information is provided as guidance for company directors.
Fes relies on leather, textile, garment, mechanical and food-processing manufacturing, backed by a structured craft sector and the Bensouda and Ain Cheggag industrial zones, within a largely family-run economy.
A personal guarantee is a separate undertaking from the company's debt: its treatment depends on the instrument signed and the proceeding opened. It is a priority review point in industrial cases in the Fes region, addressed before any bank negotiation.
Losing a major customer is a classic early warning. The preventive tools under Book V of the Moroccan Commercial Code are designed to be used before cessation of payments, which materially widens the negotiating options.
Mac Mahon Avocats — 33 avenue Mac-Mahon, 75017 Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 45 03 20 20
Email: accueil@macmahon-avocats.fr
Proceedings governed by Book VI of the French Commercial Code follow statutory deadlines. The information below is general and does not constitute legal advice.
Observation period. In rehabilitation proceedings, the observation period lasts six months, renewable once, with a further extension available at the public prosecutor's request (article L.631-7).
Confidential procedures. The ad hoc mandate and conciliation (articles L.611-3 to L.611-15) are opened at the director's request and remain confidential.
The actual timetable depends on the company's situation, the size of its liabilities and the work of the court-appointed officeholder. An initial discussion helps identify the appropriate procedure.
Matters in Morocco are handled in collaboration with partner lawyers admitted to the Moroccan bars. Those colleagues, admitted before the Kingdom's courts, carry out filings, hearings and local representation. Mac Mahon Avocats works alongside them on restructuring strategy and France-Morocco coordination.
This set-up complies with the applicable professional rules: the firm itself provides no judicial representation before Moroccan courts.
An initial confidential discussion helps identify the appropriate route (prevention, negotiation, turnaround).
Take appointment Call +33 1 45 03 20 20 Send an email
Advisory only, in collaboration with our partner lawyers admitted to the Moroccan bars, who handle representation before the Kingdom's courts.