French La Poste creation of Post Bank scheduled for early 2005

Patrick Werner, managing director for financial activities at La Poste, the French national postal services group, has said that he intends to submit plans for expansion in financial services, including the creation of a postal bank, to banking regulator CECEI in the second half of September this year. Mr Werner said he expected a response by the end of the year and that the bank would be created early in 2005.

Mr Werner also seemed unperturbed by the strikes called for April 27. He said that industrial relations at the group were not bad and did not affect the standard of its work.