Atos's statutory auditors are facing an unprecedented class action in France. Around 700 individual shareholders, both current and former, have decided to pursue the professional civil liability of Deloitte & Associés and Grant Thornton, the group's statutory auditors between 2017 and 2022, as well as for the 2023 accounts published in early 2024. The case is being brought by the law firm Vermeille & Co, with support from UPRA (Union for the Protection of Shareholders). It is financed by a litigation fund.

The plaintiffs are investors who purchased Atos shares between February 2018 and March 2024, relying on certified accounts that they now consider inaccurate. They argue that the group's financial situation had been deteriorating for a long time, without this reality being clearly disclosed to the market, until the shock of 2024. The annual results revealed €3.4 billion in losses and heavy net debt, which necessitated a major restructuring, resulting in the near-total dilution of historical shareholders.

At the heart of the case, shareholders accuse the auditors of having approved, over six consecutive fiscal years, accounts that did not reflect Atos's economic reality. They point in particular to overvalued assets, overly optimistic revenue recognition, insufficiently provisioned risks, and what they consider a misleading presentation of operational performance. They also believe the auditors failed to warn about the risks to the company's ability to continue as a going concern, which, according to them, had already been compromised since the early 2020s.