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renseignements d'état civil
déclinaisons de ligne
May 7, 2008 11:55
16 yrs ago
117 viewers *
French term

Parts sociales

French to English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general)
Having looked at the dozens of Kudoz entries I'm not convinced.
"Capital Social- Actions ou parts Sociales" in Notes to the accounts.
How do we differentiate between a Share and a share with no voting or div rights giving a fixed interest that is issued by mutual banks?

Please!! Help!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 share
4 +2 membership interests
4 +1 partner's (or partnership) shares
4 Company shares
4 (ownership) units

Discussion

Attorney DC Bar May 7, 2008:
societe en commandite simple, societe civile. That's what you should call 'parts sociales' in English, to cover all bases.
Attorney DC Bar May 7, 2008:
If you don't know what kind of company it is, do the following. Translate 'actions' by 'shares'. Then figure out what the fractional ownership interests are called in the English companies that are functional equivalents of SARL, societe en nom collectif,
Attorney DC Bar May 7, 2008:
How you translate it depends on what kind of company you're dealing with. General or limited partnership, LLC (private limited company in the UK), non-trading company,etc.Each equivalent form of business organization has a term for 'part sociale'. Use it.
Attorney DC Bar May 7, 2008:
In a societe anonyme, it's called an 'action'. In a societe a responsabilite limite, it's called a 'part' or 'part sociale'. In both cases, in English it's called a share. In a partnership, and several other kinds of company, and it's also a 'part sociale
BusterK May 7, 2008:
It fits "mutuelles" that provide services to their members exclusively bu not all parts sociales. A SARL's capital is divided in parts sociales...
Miranda Joubioux (X) May 7, 2008:
You might consider reading the GDT entry for part sociale, which they translate as "membership share", which in my opinion fits my bank very well.
Michael GREEN May 7, 2008:
Thanks John A - you are of course quite ...!
John ANTHONY May 7, 2008:
Michael Green: I would suggest that "capital social" is, in UK-EN, "corporate capital" rather than "authorised capital"... :-), but it is always a struggle to "translate" what is horrendously called "concepts"...
Jack Dunwell (asker) May 7, 2008:
I think really you've cracked it. No mention of WW1 Reparations but loads of comptes de regularisations . No comment that isn't woolly, superfluous or opaque. And they can't even think through their usages in English!!Who'd a thought it. So I'm leaving out the "or" etc. It hurts, being paid by the word....
Thank you both very much indeed.
BusterK May 7, 2008:
Michael / fourth: answer is share capital as I understand it is the amount that is required and not the number of shares.
Michael GREEN May 7, 2008:
Well, strictly speaking, capital social = authorised capital, but in this case it seems to be shares.
Michael GREEN May 7, 2008:
"actions (also called part sociales) " ? That is stretching things a tiny bit, but unless your source text (not the site you mention) also refers to interest and other complications, I don't see how else to translate it. Capital social = shares, IMveryHO.
Jack Dunwell (asker) May 7, 2008:
Yes? Yes Michael...,,???
Michael GREEN May 7, 2008:
I hope my answers are always printable ... but they do sometimes irritate the sensitive souls out there. Not you, certainly. Hum - some lateral (or dippy) thinking : your phrase says "actions OU part sociales" - might it be interpreted to mean :
Jack Dunwell (asker) May 7, 2008:
Thank you Michael!Firstly I can't put "Shares and shares" in the title. Secondly the ref I've given above (tap in Parts Sociale...look at Seniorplanet site talks of FIXED INTEREST shares...etc. Where am I getting it wrong please? And restrict answer to the printable SVP!!
Michael GREEN May 7, 2008:
Whence comes your question about differentiating between shares with and without voting or dividend rights ?
Michael GREEN May 7, 2008:
Hi J : saw yr question somewhat late, and I'm not an expert, so my comments will probably not be very helpful, but all my references confirm BusterK's first comment - a part social is a share in a company (private or public) or a partnership.
Jack Dunwell (asker) May 7, 2008:
I'm glad you're here BusterK! Can you look at Seniorplanet-fr by tapping in Parts Sociales. This seems to differentiate severely into Fixed Interest, and non voting rights; Do you read it that way? Tks
BusterK May 7, 2008:
has rights to vote and dividends...
Skipping your comment, the answer would be "Share (capital)" for both...
BusterK May 7, 2008:
Your explanation is not the one of "part sociale" or not the common law one. A share, to my knowledge is both Action and Part sociale. A Part sociale has a right to vote and dividends. In France, the holder of such a share in mutual bank also usually

Proposed translations

+1
52 mins
Selected

share

I do confirm, reading this:http://www.seniorplanet.fr/mag/les-parts-sociales-injustemen...
It is only a consequence of the dividend policy of these banks. Since they are supposed to be non-profit they cannot maximize revenues for their shareholders. Instead they offer a "fair" remuneration of investment.
But some shares indeed have not right to dividends, just because there several categories of shares. In mine, you have A and B, A without dvidend but you need to have at least 5 A to get B, and then 1 A per B...
Probably the same for voting rights.
But all this are specific categories of shares that typically should give right to voting power and dividend.

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Note added at 57 minutes (2008-05-07 12:53:15 GMT)
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The translation for "Capital social - actions ou parts sociales" would thus be "Share capital".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 heure (2008-05-07 12:58:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Actions ou parts sociales only intended to make it clear that both type of legal entities should use the same line. Any given entity mays only have one or the other. That's why I propose to skip it (in addition to the fact that both are shares...).
Note from asker:
Great work and much gratitude BusterK. I have every faith! But yr dealing with a thicky here. How do I translate "Capital Social- Actions ou Parts Sociales"
Peer comment(s):
agree Aude Sylvain :
56 mins
merci
neutral Attorney DC Bar : Yes, in certain cases, but not in all.
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I think this has been incredibly useful. Thank you. Practically speaking I've translated "Share" "
+1
2 mins

partner's (or partnership) shares

*
Note from asker:
swanda thank you very much for picking up this aspect
Peer comment(s):
agree Richard Nice
0 min
thanks Richard
neutral Attorney DC Bar : Only in certain cases. There are at least four different types of French company that use the term 'part sociale' to express a fractional ownership interest in the company.
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 hr

Company shares

Under French law, there is a distinction between "parts sociales" in a private limited company, and "actions" in a joint-stock company. They both mean "company shares" in the UK, whatever the company format. :-)
Note from asker:
John. Thank you. I have gone down this route
Peer comment(s):
neutral Attorney DC Bar : No, because the English functional equivalents of certain kinds of French companies with 'parts sociales' do not have 'company shares'.
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
7 hrs

membership interests

so 'actions et parts sociales' becomes 'shares and membership interests'. About 1000 Ghits for "shares and membership interests", which I won't cite-- just run the search and you'll see how common the phrase is. "Membership interests" pretty much covers all fractional interests in various forms of business organisation, that are not 'shares' per se.
Note from asker:
Rufinus Invaluable commentary. This is an SA. Thank you so much
Peer comment(s):
agree Mark Nathan
1 hr
thanks Mark
agree Jane RM : just used this now - thanks!
337 days
Something went wrong...
1 day 8 hrs

(ownership) units

'actions ou parts' = shares or units, in the typical context that wants to cover equity in listed companies (shares), investments in mutual & common funds, interests in partnerships, etc.
This pairing of terms is a standard phrase.
Something went wrong...
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