Benjamin Dirx (born 25 January 1979) is a French entrepreneur and politician of La République En Marche! (LREM) who has been serving as a member of the French National Assembly since the 2017 elections, representing the department of Saône-et-Loire.
Political career In parliament, Dirx has been a member of the Finance Committee since 2018. He has also been a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (2017–2018) and the Committee on European Affairs (2017–2020).Benjamin Dirx French National Assembly. On the Finance Committee, Dirx is the parliament's rapporteur on the national budget for higher educationMarie-Christine Corbier (19 July 2019), Budget 2020 : pour les universités et la recherche, une hausse limitée en attendant mieux Les Échos. and on shareholder activism.Laurence Boisseau (6 June 2019), La place de Paris se mobilise face à l'offensive des fonds activistes Les Échos.
Since 2020, Dirx has been part of his parliamentary group's leadership under chair Christophe Castaner.Députés LREM: Aurore Bergé, ex-rivale de Castaner, nommée "présidente déléguée" Le Point, 29 September 2020.
Political positions Together with Éric Woerth, Dirx published a non-legally binding report in 2019 which garnered international attention for its recommendations on preventing short-sellers and activists from unfairly destabilising French corporates. These included widening the disclosures of short positions to derivatives instruments, pushing for more transparency around the borrowing and lending of stock, and investigating whether market functions are jeopardised once short selling reaches a certain volume of shares.David Keohane and Harriet Agnew (2 October 2019), France seeks crackdown on short sellers and activist investors Financial Times.Laurence Boisseau (3 December 2019), L'activiste Muddy Waters défend les vertus de la vente à découvert Les Échos.
In July 2019, Dirx decided to abstain from a vote on the French ratification of the European Union’s Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada.Maxime Vaudano (24 July 2019), CETA : qui a voté quoi parmi les députés Le Monde.
See also 2017 French legislative election
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