Banks in France
French banks have a reputation of a reliable financial institutions not only in France, but also in the European Union. The largest banking groups in France are: BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Societe Generale Group, Groupe BPCE, Groupe Crédit Mutuel-CIC.
Top French Banks:
Societe Generale
Founded in 1864, the Societe Generale Bank of France is the third largest bank in total assets and eighth ranked bank in Europe. The original name of the company was Société Générale pour favoriser le développement du commerce et de l’industrie en France or the English translation is the General Company to Support the Development of Commerce and Industry in France.
Credit Agricole
Crédit Agricole SA (CASA) is a central institution of the co-operative Crédit Agricole Group, one of France’s largest commercial banks. Among the main bank’s activities are credit cards, consumer banking, corporate banking, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, wealth management, asset management.
Credit Lyonnais (LCL) Bank
Credit Lyonnais, also known as LCL since 2005, is a French bank with head office in Lyon. The close to 20,900 employees take care of 320,000 business customers and 27,000 corporate and institutional customers, over and above the 6 million. Besides servicing personal and commercial accounts, the bank also offers investment services such as securities brokerage, asset management, and corporate finance.
Crédit du Nord
The bank belongs to the Crédit du Nord financial group, made up of seven financial institutions: Bank Courtois, Kolb bank Laydernier bank Nuger bank, the Rhône-Alpes bank, Tarneaud bank and Gilbert Dupont company.
Crédit du Nord has some 785 branches throughout the French territory and employs no fewer than 8,700 employees. Its customer base is now estimated at about 1.92 million customers, with a sharp rise in the first half of 2011 to 48,000 additional customers.
Banque Transatlantique
The Banque Transatlantique has developed recognized expertise in the fields of the private banking, asset management, administration of employee share ownership scheme and the management of expatriates. Present in London since 1986, Banque Transatlantique continues to grow and multiply its operations at the international markets with subsidiaries, branches and representative offices: Singapore in 2001, Luxembourg in 2002, Brussels in 2005, New York , Montreal and Hong Kong in 2011, Geneva in 2012.