my name is Paul and I am an anglais living and working in France since 10 years now.
Excuse me if I write in English as although I can speak and read French , writing French is not something I have succeeded in yet.
I need some advice about buying shares in a new company which are soon going to be listed on the Canadian stock exchange but I have absolutely no experience of buying shares either in France or elsewhere for that matter.
The enterprise is a tech company that has developed a technology I am very interested in and think could be very exciting especially from an investment point of view. High risk/high return sort of situation.
They are currently offering for investors to subscribe to buy shares before the public listing and I have received the email with the subscription application documents. The documents need to be completed and sent back with the funds for the amount of shares I wish to subscribe to buy. In return I will receive paper share certificates (this si what I understand from reading the documents anyway) AT the moment I am considering investing an initial amount of about 5k euro.
My question is: when I subscribe to buy shares in this manner is it French law that I need to use a broker in any way, for example to hold onto the share certificates??
Or are brokers only required when buying and selling shares on the stock markets?
I have a number of questions about buying these shares, including taxes and bank accounts. Who in France would be the best people to consult about these matters without having to pay too much considering the relatively small investment amount?
Any help gratefully appreciated
Paul