Nicolas Dufourcq, general director of the public bank Bpifrance, argued Thursday that the investment of 200 employees of the bank, including himself, in a successful investment fund, was not “a conflict of interest but an alignment of interests.”
Mr. Dufourcq returned to this matter during the BIG (Bpifrance Inno Generation) exhibition bringing together thousands of Paris companies.
A preliminary investigation into illegal taking of interest was opened on July 21 by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), after a report from the Court of Auditors on this investment fund, Bpifrance Entreprises (BE1).
Mr. Dufourcq had already denied any criminal behavior in July, on LinkedIn.
I always wanted to democratize private equity (investment largely in unlisted companies, Editor’s note), he explained on Thursday on BFM Business, and still considered that it was unacceptable for this asset class to be reserved for the ultra-rich.
When I launched this product with my teams, in October 2020, everyone said, +you are crazy, you are making the widow of Carpentras take incredible risks!+, recalled Mr. Dufourcq.
I said +we’ll put in a ticket [d’entre] 5,000 euros so that the French who have very little savings do not invest because it is too risky, and moreover we are all going to invest in Bpi, at the same level as the others, without any privileged information, nothing+, a he added.
Now that the product works, we are told +it’s disgusting, you have invested!+, he lamented.
This is not how it works, especially since in this private investment in SMEs, the fundamental rule (…) is that you always invest in your fund: there is no conflict of interest , but alignment of interests! he assured.
The least you can do when you suggest the French take a risk is to take it with them. Four thousand people in total contributed their savings, he observed in an interview with the Tribune.
He underlined that the state and the Caisse des Dpts, with the shareholders of Bpifrance, [les avaient] followed, and that the fund had been politically supported and highly publicized.
We are calmly at the disposal of the PNF, recalling that it is a report, not an incrimination, he concluded.
Bpifrance has since prohibited, by individual letter, the members of the boards of directors, the general management committee of Bpifrance and the project team, from subscribing to the BE2 successor fund.