Translation of Commercial and Company Documents for France

In the paperwork vocabulary of Turkish companies doing business with France, a single word sums everything up: Kbis. This page deals with the translation of the documents a company established in Türkiye will submit to a commercial court registry, a buyer or a tendering authority in France. A French company opening a branch or a liaison office in Türkiye is a separate file, running in the opposite direction.

What is a Kbis, and what should a Turkish company send?

In France the identity document of every company entered in the trade register is the Kbis extract obtained from the commercial court registry; on a single page it shows the company’s existence, its address, its field of activity and its directors. When your French counterpart says “send us your Kbis”, what they are asking you for is the equivalent in Türkiye. No single document supplies that equivalent: the certificate of activity issued by the trade registry directorate, the notice in the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette and the signature circular carry the same information between them. Adding a short covering note that explains this to the other side is a simple and effective step, and it heads off the objection that “your document is not a Kbis”.

Traducteur assermenté: the court of appeal list requirement

A translation submitted to an official body in France has to be made by a sworn translator who appears on the list of experts held by a court of appeal. A translation from outside the list may not be accepted whatever its quality, and this sets France firmly apart from countries that work on a statement of accuracy. In a translation produced in Türkiye the chain is different: the sworn translator signs, the notary attests, and the apostille is added. Commercial counterparts and buyers generally accept that route; court registries, notaries and public tendering authorities, on the other hand, may insist on the route through a listed translator within France. Find out which route holds good by obtaining written confirmation from the authority that will carry out the transaction.

What the French counterpart asks for	Its counterpart in Türkiye	What it shows
Kbis extract	Certificate of activity + TTSG notice	Whether the company is active, and who runs it
Statuts (articles of association)	Full text of the articles of association	Objects and shareholding structure
Pouvoir / delegation	Power of attorney + signature circular	Who is authorised, and for which transaction
Attestation fiscale	Letter confirming no outstanding tax debt	Position on fiscal obligations

The difference in paperwork between a succursale and a filiale

There are two classic forms of establishment in France, and each produces a different file. In a structure in the nature of a branch, no separate legal personality comes into being; the registry wants to see the existence of the Turkish parent company, its objects, and the will of its decision-making organ to open that branch. The articles of association, the registry record, the board resolution and the letter appointing a representative are therefore translated. Where a subsidiary is set up, a new French legal person is created; the set of documents required from the parent company narrows, but the incorporation itself is more formal, and documents relating to the undertaking to contribute capital come into play. The lightest structure, in the nature of a liaison office, cannot carry on commercial activity and so calls for the narrowest file of all. Ordering a translation before you have decided which structure to establish means the list will change afterwards.

Why shipping paperwork is not part of this file

The certificates of origin and movement certificates drawn up when goods are sent to France call for the working hours of the chamber and of customs, not those of a translator; because the forms are printed in more than one language, they are not separately translated. Invoices and packing lists, too, are drawn up in a foreign language from the outset. Putting this paperwork into the translation file produces a cost that no institution expects. The chain of translation and certification is there only for texts that impose obligations on the parties or prove a right: contracts, letters of guarantee, powers of attorney, registry records, and court and enforcement papers. If you are in doubt, a simple question helps: would this piece of paper be used in evidence in a dispute?

The power of attorney and the chain of authority

If a registration, a court case or a banking transaction in France is to be handled for you by your local representative, the power of attorney is the most sensitive part of the file. The text must be narrow and clear, and must state on behalf of which company and for which transaction it is granted. The authority of the person granting it is proved by a currently dated registry record and the signature circular. The order runs as follows: signature before a notary, then the apostille at the governor’s office or the district governor’s office, and the translation last of all. France is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; verify the current list of parties through the HCCH. You can compare the regimes of other markets in our country guide.

The tender file, the commonest ground of rejection, and delivery

In French public tenders the commonest ground of rejection is the date of the document: specifications ask for a recently dated registry record, because that is what their own habit with the Kbis has bred. Even a flawless translation of a document obtained months earlier counts as out of date. The second frequent ground is that the translation was not obtained from a listed translator, and the third that the translation has been detached from the copy of the original. Even where you upload to an electronic tendering platform, keep the stamped, wet-signed set to hand. Send us your file through the quotation form; you can see what difference the level of approval makes on the pricing page.

This content is for information; a country’s practice on apostilles or consular legalisation may change. Before deciding, it is worth looking at the institution’s own published guidance.