SEPTEMBER 2018

HOW DOES CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
STAY LOCAL WHILE OPERATING
MULTINATIONALLY?
BY ANCA VOINEA
INTERNATIONAL
EDITOR
With a 23.3% market share of French household
deposits and total assets of €1.72tn, Crédit
Agricole is France’s second largest bank.
Perhaps less known is the fact that the bank is a
co-operative. Through a network of local
credit co-operatives and a number of
subsidiaries, in France and abroad, it provides
retail, corporate, insurance, and investment
banking services.
We spoke to Pascal Delheure, deputy general
director of Crédit Agricole’s national federation,
to learn how the group has sought to stay
loyal to its co-operative roots while remaining
competitive in a tough market.
“Crédit Agricole was born out of the need for
finance within the agricultural sector,” he says. “It
developed locally, based on geographical
proximity and the will of the people to empower
each other and create solidarity among
themselves to finance agriculture.”
The bank emerged at a time when the
agricultural sector struggled to find affordable
credit. In 1884, France passed an act allowing
freedom of association, breaking the Jacobin
centralised tradition. On 5 November 1894,
members of farm unions were authorised to set
up Crédit Agricole’s local banks.
“Our values have always been community,
responsibility and solidarity. They have
not changed but the world has,” said
Mr Delheure.
The value of community is twofold, bringing a
geographical presence in local communities and
‘OUR VALUES HAVE ALWAYS
BEEN COMMUNITY,
RESPONSIBILITY AND
SOLIDARITY. THEY HAVE
NOT CHANGED BUT THE
WORLD HAS’
fostering relationships with people who lived in
them. With 39 regional banks, 27 million retail
customers in France, Crédit Agricole serves a
wide range of customers, including farmers.
Mr Delheure says the bank still strives to
support people and help them develop,
something determined by its values of
responsibility and solidarity. It has helped the
agricultural sector during multiple crises as well
as helping it keep up with the rapid changes
of modern society. This includes developing
financial tools to help people deal with issues
such as job losses or restructuring.
“The three values are still current. Combining
our three values is our raison d’être. We are still
serving a purpose,” he said.
Looking at the wider picture, confidence of
customers in the banking sector is falling but Mr
Delheure says the image of Crédit Agricole has
“not been deeply affected by the financial crisis
in the USA”.
“This is due to the financialisation of credit and
the way in which finance is given in the Anglo-
Saxon states, which is different from how things
are done in the French banking system,” he says.
“Credit co-operatives are not speculative banks,
they collect money. Our co-operative model
ensures there is a real benefit for members who
are also represented in governance structures.”
Due to its approach and local roots, Crédit
Agricole has not suffered to the same extent as
regular banks during the crisis, nor did it require
a state bailout.
“We are a group of 39 banks, which function on
a decentralised, co-operative model,” says Mr
Delheure. “Executive management is separated
from the board of directors, which is made up of
member representatives of the local territories.
This makes it safer and more responsible than
banks with independent directors.”
Since 2003, Crédit Agricole has had an ethical
policy, developed to ensure common standards
across its institutions.
The Crédit Agricole Group includes a network
of regional co-operative banks and Credit
Agricole SA, a national structure whose business
lines provide a wide range of solutions to the
local network. The regional banks own 54% of
40 | SEPTEMBER 2018