The central body of Crédit Mutuel, the Confédération Nationale du Crédit Mutuel (CNCM), published a joint statement on Wednesday with its restless affiliate Arkéa, a rare event opening the door to a way out of the crisis which has shaken the French bank for several years.
Crdit Mutuel Arka and the National Confederation of Crdit Mutuel have agreed on the framework and the method for conducting a negotiation process, indicates the document, published on the sidelines of a CNCM board meeting held on Wednesday. The announced ambition is to preserve the cohesion of the group, the mandate of the central body, but also to strengthen the autonomy of its members, a point dear to Crdit Mutuel Arka.
Instruction work will be carried out between the main executive directors of Crdit Mutuel in order to reach proposals defined between elected officials and directors within a dedicated body, the press release further specifies.
A standoff that has lasted for years
The Crdit Mutuel group has been torn for several years by a political and legal tussle between its two main entities, Crdit Mutuel Alliance Fdrale and Crdit Mutuel Arka, the latter seeking to free itself from the supervision of the banking group, accusing it of favoritism .
The last communication rather betrayed a disagreement: Arka considered on October 12 that the central body refused to negotiate on its conciliation proposals made at the end of August, judging its attitude not responsible. There is no refusal to negotiate, denied in the crowd a spokesman for the confederation, joined by AFP.
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Unveiled proposals
The CNCM had made public on July 7 several proposals as part of a first step of rapprochement: to integrate into its statutes a right of veto for all the federations, a measure subject to conditions, and to create a position of deputy vice-president occupied by a representative of the Brittany and South-West federations, Arka’s base.
On August 29, Arka communicated its own: a right of strategic veto, recognition of free competition between regional groups and a decentralized mode of operation.
The Federal Alliance of Crdit Mutuel, based in Strasbourg, relies on the Crdit Mutuel and CIC networks. It brings together 14 of the 18 national federations. Arka, based in Finistre, brings together the Brittany and South-West federations as well as several specialized subsidiaries, such as the online bank Fortuneo.
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