Credit Agricole May Follow Rivals With Asset Sales

(We were first to report this. The next day Credit Agricole announced a plan to sell assets.)

By Lionel Laurent

PARIS, Sept 27 | Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:25am EDT

(Reuters) - Credit Agricole , France's third-biggest bank by market value, is expected to follow bigger rivals BNP Paribas and Societe Generale in launching asset sales after the sharp falls in their share prices in recent weeks.

Retail-focused Credit Agricole is a different beast from BNP and SocGen. It has already restructured its investment bank and cut high-risk activities after an overambitious expansion in the years leading up to the 2008 crisis.

But analysts and sources familiar with the bank say it is not immune to the lethal cocktail of higher U.S. dollar funding costs and heightened fears over a Greek default that have spurred on banks to speed up asset sales.

"I find it difficult to see how they (Credit Agricole) can avoid it ... They are also likely to act," one Paris-based source familiar with the bank's strategy said.

(Read on...)