Its acquisition of the Belgian private bank and asset manager offers Indosuez a chance to bulk up fast in key European markets. Its chief executive Jacques Prost sits down… erm, stands up with Euromoney to discuss the firm’s future.

French banks have not had the net interest margin bonanza that higher interest rates have offered many southern European banks recently. In fact, some French banks saw profit decreases in their domestic retail divisions last year, while areas like markets and vehicle leasing have been less of a support to group profit compared to the immediate post-pandemic period.

Crédit Agricole CIB demonstrated its global capabilities and expertise in sustainability for Hong Kong clients last year, structuring and executing several transactional firsts as well as supporting the growth and development of the broader market.

Since its foundation in 1885 as a cooperative and mutual bank, social usefulness has been central to Crédit Agricole’s business model. It was an early pioneer of sustainable finance. It was one of the first banks to commit to exiting the thermal coal industry by 2030 in OECD countries and by 2040 for the rest of the world.

The Siena-based bank has a better bill of health and is once again a target in Italy.

The French investment bank is taking a bet on a double-edged blockchain technology to stay ahead of both the tokenization and sustainability trends.

Banks like Santander, BNP Paribas and SocGen see auto finance and the future of mobility as critical pieces of their overall group strategies. But as mobility becomes an increasingly fractured business, what does the auto finance bank of the future look like?

If the French company cuts greenhouse gas emissions, it will use savings on loan margin to finance sustainability projects: if it doesn’t, its banks will fund them.

Crédit Agricole’s purchase of a 9.18% in Banco BPM could have benefits, even if it doesn’t presage a full takeover.

Early in the Covid crisis, CACIB avoided the big equity derivatives losses its local rivals suffered. Chief executive Jacques Ripoll tells Euromoney how the bank plans to take advantage of the rise of sustainable finance, which plays to its long-standing expertise in infrastructure and energy.

The firm has joined Barclays and Jefferies, as well as start-ups Jarden Australia and Barrenjoey, in bolstering its presence in Australia. What’s the appeal of this heavily banked market?

Being France’s biggest retail bank might not sound as appealing as it once was. But Crédit Agricole’s management is focused on the growing number of additional products it is plugging into the network.

Despite concerns over recent regulatory changes, synthetic risk transfers remain a key driver for business lending in markets where private investment is underdeveloped.

The past year has brought new challenges for Crédit Agricole’s partnerships in products and distribution. But the wave of bank M&A sweeping Europe is also an opportunity – as its Creval deal shows.

Pre-2008 M&A mistakes still stand in the way of a bolder bank purchase such as Banco BPM.

Crédit Agricole takes the lead in Western Europe in this year's Euromoney Awards for Excellence.

While it was hard before, the Covid-19 pandemic will make it almost impossible for most European banks to earn their cost of equity any time soon.

The Italian fashion house’s sustainability linked loan, arranged by Crédit Agricole, builds the catwalk for other retailers to follow suit.

European banks don’t have a continental market, right? Wrong. Even if they cannot do full-blown mergers, the cross-border consolidation of specific business lines offers a way of gaining some of the economies of scale that US and Chinese banks enjoy.

Overall Credit Strategy Fixed Income Research (inclusive of all research) Actionable Trade Ideas

Austria

Usefulness as necessity.

Medium-term plan targets same efficiency and little ROE increase, but client growth and new social motto please mutualists and Macron.

The smackdown on greenwashing is coming – and ‘commitments’ to clean energy and environmental practices will not be enough.

Head of sustainable banking, Crédit Agricole CIB

Any important new market needs its innovators, cheerleaders and pioneers… As banks try to build more responsible and sustainable businesses, these are the champions of impact banking at 10 of the world’s biggest firms. From green and blue finance to financial inclusion and social banking, they are leading the way and setting an agenda for others to follow.

Fixed income research consumers tell us which research teams have impressed them most over the last 12 months.

Mutual banks and publicly owned savings banks continue to dominate much of Europe’s SME banking sector. What makes Crédit Agricole stand out is not just its deep presence in this market but also its success plugging regional businesses into specialized product factories at the centre. Crédit Agricole is France’s biggest bank brand for SMEs, but unlike other big operators in this sector such as BPCE, the Crédit Mutual network or Germany’s Sparkasse, it has the benefit of better integration between the group’s components.

Austria