France

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Although the turnaround at Crédit Agricole and its investment banking subsidiary Calyon has been impressive, the group remains the poor cousin of rivals BNP Paribas and Société Générale, both of which continue to go from strength to strength and between them carve up Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence in France.

French consumers have had to put up with unexceptional retail banking for many years but the impressive growth recorded recently at BNP Paribas and even more so at Société Générale is testament to the changing pace of developments. The growth at Société Générale’s French retail operations, which include both Société Générale and Crédit du Nord, are exceptional for a supposedly mature market and the group’s French retail operations are widely regarded by analysts as the most successful and dynamic in France.

Both Société Générale and BNP Paribas have excellent reputations as debt houses but this year Société Générale narrowly wins the prize.