Jacques Laffitte was a leading French banker, governor of the Bank of France (1814–1820) and liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies during the Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy. He was an important figure in the development of new banking techniques during the early stages of industrialization in France. In politics, he played a decisive role during the Revolution of 1830 that brought Louis-Philippe, the duc d'Orléans, to the throne, replacing the unpopular Bourbon king Charles X. Laffitte was named president of the new Citizen King's Council of Ministers and Minister of Finances. After a brief ministry of 131 days, his "Party of Movement" gave way before the "Party of Order" led by the banker Casimir-Pierre Perier. Laffitte left office discredited politically and financially ruined. He rebounded financially in 1836 with his creation of the Caisse Générale du Commerce et de l'Industrie, a forerunner of French investment banks of the second half of the 19th century such as the Crédit Mobilier (1852). The Caisse Générale did not survive the financial crisis caused by the Revolution of 1848.
Crédit Foncier de France (CFF) was a major French bank, active from 1852 to 2019 when its activities were entirely subsumed into Groupe BPCE, although the brand name appears to remain active.
Crédit Agricole Group, sometimes called La banque verte due to its historical ties to farming, is a French international banking group and the world's largest cooperative financial institution. It is France's second largest bank, after BNP Paribas, as well as the third largest in Europe and tenth largest in the world. It consists of a network of Crédit Agricole local banks, the 39 Crédit Agricole regional banks, and a central institute, the Crédit Agricole S.A.. It is listed through Crédit Agricole S.A., an intermediate holding company, on Euronext Paris' first market and is part of the CAC 40 stock market index. In August 2021, it reached the top of the CAC 40. Local banks of the group owned the regional banks, in turn the regional banks majority owned the S.A. via a holding company, in turn the S.A. owned part of the subsidiaries of the group, such as LCL, the Italian network and the CIB unit. It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board.
The Bank of France, headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the French government, managing the accounts and the facilitation of payments for the Treasury and some public companies. It also oversees the auctions of public securities on behalf of the European Central Bank.
Groupe Banque Populaire was a French group of cooperative banks. The central entity was controlled by 15 independent regional banks and also operated under the CASDEN and the Crédit Coopératif subsidiaries.
Natixis is a French corporate and investment bank created in November 2006 from the merger of the asset management and investment banking operations of Natexis Banques Populaires and IXIS.
Groupe Caisse d'épargne was a French cooperative banking group, with around, 4700 branches in the country. Its origins go back to the founding in 1818 of the Caisse d'Épargne et de Prévoyance de Paris, France's first savings bank. The group was active in retail and private banking, as well as holding a significant stake in the publicly traded investment bank Natixis. In 2009, it merged with Groupe Banque Populaire to form Groupe BPCE.
The State Bank and Savings Fund, also known by its Luxemburgish name Spuerkeess, is the leading national financial institution founded in 1856 and governed by the law of March 24, 1989. BCEE is a commercial bank wholly owned by the government of Luxembourg.
Hottinger Group is an international wealth management business headquartered in London providing family office, Investment banking and other associated financial services. Hottinger is known as one of the first private banks, created on 1 August 1786 by the Hottinguer family.
The banking industry in France has, as of 11 October 2008, an average leverage ratio of 28 to 1, and its short-term liabilities are equal to 60% of the French GDP or 128% of its national debt.
Groupe BPCE is a major French banking group formed by the 2009 merger of two major retail banking groups, Groupe Caisse d'Épargne and Groupe Banque Populaire. As of 2021, it was France's fourth largest bank, the seventh largest in Europe, and the nineteenth in the world by total assets. It has more than 8,200 branches nationwide under their respective brand names serving nearly 150 million customers. It is Europe’s largest bank by revenue, ahead of BNP Paribas and HSBC. It is considered a global systemically important bank (G-SIB) by the Financial Stability Board.
Crédit Mutuel is a French cooperative banking group, one of the country's top five banks with over 30 million customers. It traces its origins back to the German cooperative movement inspired by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen in Alsace–Lorraine under German rule, in the 1880s. Crédit Mutuel is a member of the International Raiffeisen Union (IRU).
François Pérol is a French banker and high-ranking official and is the current chairman of Natixis.
The Lombard Odier Group is an independent Swiss banking group based in Geneva. Its operations are organised into three divisions: private banking, asset management, and IT and back and middle office services for other financial institutions. As of mid-2022, the bank had total client assets of CHF 310 billion, which makes it one of the biggest players in the Swiss private banking sector.
RCI Banque SA, trading as Mobilize Financial Services and formerly known as RCI Bank and Services and as Renault Crédit International, is a France-based international company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault. RCI Banque specialises in automotive financing, insurance, and related activities for the Renault group brands globally; for the Nissan group brands in Europe, Russia, Asia and South America; for Mitsubishi Motors in the Netherlands.
Nicolas Mérindol, was the former CEO of the Groupe Caisse d’Épargne. Since July 2012 he has been the Chairman and Partner of Amilton, a financial services group. He was formerly the Vice-Chairman for France of Banca Leonardo, a position he took up in January 2010. He has also served as the Chairman of Constructa Asset Management’s Board of Directors since December 2012.
ODDO BHF is an independent Franco-German financial services group. It was created from the alliance of a French family-owned business built up by five generations of stockbrokers and a German bank specialising in Mittelstand companies. With 2,300 employees, and more than 100 billion euros in assets under management, ODDO BHF operates in three main businesses, based on significant investment in market expertise: private banking, asset management and corporate and investment banking.
Philippe Oddo, is a French financier, and a managing partner of the ODDO BHF group.
Ostrum Asset Management, previously Natixis Asset Management, is a France-based asset manager, founded in 2007. It is part of Groupe BPCE, a banking group in France. Ostrum AM is an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, majority owned by BPCE.
BRED is the most important cooperative bank in France. It was founded in 1919 by Louis-Alexandre Dagot in Vincennes. As of 2018, the Bank has a network of 344 local branches in France, 16 business centers, 17 asset management centers and a wealth management division. 25% of its 5,500 employees are located outside France and in French overseas collectivities. It has 4.1 billion euros of equity.
