The Hindu Business Line : French co-op keen on presence here

The € 5-billion Natexis Banques Populaires cooperative bank from France is keen on participation in the Indian banking industry. For this, a 20-member delegation is currently camping here on an "exploratory" mission.

The Head of the Banque Federale, Paris, Mr Tanguy du Chene who is leading the 20-member delegation comprising the CEOs of some of the leading banks in France, said that Natexis is the domestic and international arm for financing, investment banking and financial services of the Banque Populaire Group, a major financial institution in France with a strong retail market franchise. Mr Chene told Business Line here that his delegation had already met the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's spokesperson, Dr Sanjay Baru. He said that his Group had appointed two representatives, both Indians, in Mumbai to explore how to take part in India's evolving liberalisation of banking activity.

Diversified profile

Stating that Banque Populaire Group enjoys a diversified business profile and robust capitalisation, Mr Chene said that its cooperative structure with 2.7-million member stakeholders provides the Group a strong regional presence and a measure of freedom and source of capital for its development. He said Natexis was listed on Euronext and had built up sound expertise in various business segments such as structured finance, commodity financing or credit insurance services.

He said that Natexis had business links with 90 per cent of the top 350 French companies and processes transactions carried out with the Banque Populaires and its clients, with a network of close to 13,000 employees and 117 offices worldwide. He said during its week-long stay here, the delegation would study prospects of building long-term financial partnerships in India. He said his bank was a leader in private equity in the French small and medium enterprise (SME) segment and entertained long-term partnerships with its clientele of large and mid-sized companies.

The China advantage

One of the regional Presidents of Banque Populaire from Bordeaux, Mr Francois de la Giroday, said that his bank had opened branches in China as it provides them majority control, unlike India where the ownership is way below what the Chinese had offered, which in their case is up to 58 per cent. He said that the Chinese and the French have convergence in commercial acumen and they always "separate business from politics."

He said that his bank considers China, Brazil and India as the potentially strong markets for partnering and cooperation and said that in this cooperative bank, an individual can carry only a single share though the percentage could vary from two to a maximum of eight per cent.