Credit Agricole Seen Returning To Low-Risk Roots

By Lionel Laurent

PARIS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - When French bank Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) last unveiled a strategic plan in 2005, it promised international growth far beyond its humble agricultural origins and a big push in the glitzy investment banking business.

Five years on, with these ambitious dreams shattered by the financial crisis and its share price cut in half, the bank's new management is seen winding back the clock to less risky times as it prepares a 10-year outlook due to be unveiled on Dec. 15.

New Chief Executive Jean-Paul Chifflet has already rung in some key changes, replacing the head of Credit Agricole's crisis-scarred investment bank with a green-fingered executive trained in agricultural engineering -- a sign that sleepy, domestic banking is very much back in fashion.

"This is about a group of farmers going back to what they do best," a London-based bank analyst said, citing strong retail and asset management activities that helped Credit Agricole double profits ib the first nine months of 2010.

(Read on...)

French Bank Offers "Disco"-Style Branch Makeover

By Lionel Laurent

PARIS, Dec 3 (Reuters Life!) - French bank BNP Paribas has poured 5 million euros ($6.60 million) into a makeover of its flagship branch opposite Paris' Garnier Opera House, even as market jitters linger over the health of euro zone banks.

Purple shag-pile carpets, a glitzy silver hexagon-patterned ceiling and a wall covered with green shrubs are just some of the decorations adorning the re-opened branch, which has iPads on display and a kids' corner with walls to scrawl upon.

"It's too luxurious...Our taxes may not have paid for it but our fees did," said Nouraï, a 40-year-old hotel manager who has used the branch for 15 years. She described the array of Austin Powers-style colours as "a bit disco" and said the 60s-style makeover would not be fashionable in a few years' time.

The average cost of a standard bank branch in Paris is 300,000 euros, according to Stephane Court, of Equinox Consulting. "BNP's store, at 2,600 euros per square metre, is pretty expensive, but then again this is a completely new kind of branch," he said.

BNP, which has repaid state aid received during the financial crisis, has seen its share price lose 13 percent since a resurgence in fears over euro zone debt began in mid-September. The stock has lost nearly half its value since pre-crisis highs.