French Banque Postale forced to alter applicaction for future bank
La Poste, the French postal service provider, is expected to be forced to carry out some alterations to its application for approval of its future banking subsidiary, La Banque Postale, owing to an exceptional contribution of 2bn euros which will have to be paid to the state as part of the 2006 budget in connection with future and current retirement pensions for postal employees with civil servant status. In the application, La Poste mentions service agreements, which define its relations with the future bank from a legal and from a business point of view. In order to comply with competition law, it is envisaged that La Banque Postale will repay all costs which the parent company shoulders to assure the functioning of its banking subsidiary. The 19,000 employees responsible for back-office and sales operations at regional financial service centers will remain outside the bank, as will consultants and counter staff in post offices. It is therefore hoped that the French government will reduce the staffing costs on which the service agreements are founded, including pension costs for civil servants assisting the operations of the future bank
