The director general of the French Banking Federation (FBF) Maya Atig assured the Tribune on Friday that the French banking system was “very solid”, against the backdrop of an emerging banking crisis after several bankruptcies in the United States and the disaster takeover on Sunday of Swiss credit.
We have a very solid model in France, because it is very diversified in retail banking, investment banking, asset management, and also very diversified in its sources of liquidity, specifies Maya Atig in an interview published at the end of morning on the economic media website.
Asked about the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the starting point of the storm that banks around the world are currently going through, the general manager stressed that this establishment had little in common with a European bank, in particular on the interest rate risk management.
Even regarding Credit Suisse, there are legal differences between Swiss securities and those of the European Union, she continued. The second Swiss bank, in great difficulty, was bought on Sunday by its competitor UBS for a fraction of its stock market value.
French banks have been stingy with comments for 15 days and the bankruptcy of SVB, followed closely by those of Signature Bank and Silvergate across the Atlantic.
No risk of contagion in France
Only the president of the FBF Philippe Brassac, also managing director of Crdit Agricole, is on the front line: he first assured France Inter last Saturday that there was no risk of contagion in France, nor even, he said a few days later on BFM business, of the banking crisis in Europe.
Listed French banks are however once again very heckled on the stock market on Friday: the Socit Generale share yielded 7.04% around 12:45 p.m., BNP Paribas 6.98% and Crdit Agricole 3.23%.
Elsewhere in Europe, it is the first German bank Deutsche Bank which shows the heaviest loss, with a fall of 13.42%.
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