French banks claim Banque Postale unfair
The creation of a state-owned postal bank in France moved a step closer yesterday despite a hostile reception from the country’s bigg-est listed banks, which filed a complaint to the European Commission claiming unfair competition.
La Banque Postale, a subsidiary of the national post office, is due to be created on January 1, after winning approval from the French regulator on Wednesday night. With 28m clients, Euros 4.3bn (Dollars 5bn) of revenues, and 17,000 retail outlets, it will increase fierce competition in French banking.
Within minutes of the regulator giving its green light, four of France’s biggest banks, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Banque Populaire and Credit Agricole, lodged an appeal to the Brussels competition authority, asking it to block the postal bank’s creation.
The Commission said yesterday it would announce before Christmas whether it would approve the creation of La Banque Postale or open an inquiry.
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