Crédit Agricole

From Freepedia

Crédit Agricole SA (CASA) (Euronext: ACA) is the largest banking group in France and in Europe and is the fourth largest in the world.

CASA is part of the CAC 40 stock market index.

It also the main sponsor of a professional road cycling team (see Crédit Agricole).

Structure of the group

Crédit Agricole is a semi co-operative bank. CASA is majority owned by 43 French Caisses Régionales de Crédit Agricole Mutuel. Subsidiaries of CASA are:

Calyon, the investment banking division of Crédit Agricole.
CLSA, the Asian securities brokerage division.
Predica and Pacifica, the insurance divisions
Crédit Lyonnais, the nationwide retail banking network, acquired in 2003.

Market presence

As the Caisses Régionales cover fully the rural area, but less the urban ones, while the Credit Lyonnais has a good presence in the big cities, the combination gives that group a leading market share in many places of the French territory.

The objective of the group is now to develop a strong presence in various other European banking markets, by acquiring participations in local banks in other countries.