The bulk of the depreciations is now passed

A light wind of optimism blowing on Credit Agricole SA. Its Director General, Georges Pauget, is particularly satisfied with the performance of retail banking.

With this positive outcome in the third quarter, do you have passed the toughest crisis

With one such result in the third quarter, the proof that we are adapted to the environment of crisis, including the refocusing of Calyon plan adopted this summer. This strategy pays. We are squarely left forward. The Credit Agricole Group is solid. It has demonstrated its strength. Retail banking is particularly resistant to the crisis. LCL recorded the best performance of the Bank of detail in France since three quarters. Regional banks see their customer operations revenue grow 1.7 (excluding savings housing) on the first nine months of the year. At the international, our Italian subsidiary Cariparma, Friuladria goes well, with a contribution of more than EUR 200 million over nine months. Only our Greek subsidiary, Emporiki, continues to suffer from a difficult local conditions. We do what it takes to restore the situation as of 2009.

But the impact of the crisis on Calyon exceeds the EUR 700 million in the third quarter...

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Impairment losses continue in effect on the CDOS (collateralized debt related assets including U.S. "subprime" credit, Editor's note obligations) and insurers "monoline" but our residual exposure to these totals now less than 4 billion euros and there are assets in the face which may be able to find some value in the term. The bulk of the depreciations is now passed.

As the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, it finally cost EUR 219 million in total, or less than what we originally announced. There is no less that we have considerably reduced the risks on Calyon and bank financing and investment income are largely positive in the third quarter, excluding activities in extinction. We are in line with our plan to refocus.

And the month of October

Revenues from the BFI are positive in October. This is obviously not to prejudice the quarter across both variations on the market are also strong that unpredictable. But we we have evidence of a true reactivity in recent months with the refocusing of Calyon as well as with the capital increase or cash management. We are a proactive action and we intend to have given the group entirely in order as early as mid-2009.

And you may then proceed with acquisitions

This is not news.

Could you climb to the capital of Bankinter

We have permission to climb up to 29. It is a possibility. In view of its results, we were not wrong on the target.

With your shareholders, regional banks, the tensions they eased

We have repeatedly reaffirmed support for the regional banks. For my part, I do my job as a manager. I have no other concern if it also represent the whole of banks as the President of the French Banking Federation.

Has Credit Agricole reduced its commitments to SMEs in recent months

Not at all. We completely fulfil our role as financial partner of the France economy with a growth of the amount outstanding at the PME - PMI of 19.2 at the end of September over the same period of 2007. This dynamic also applies to the investment capital and factoring. According to a recent study, more than 90 of our customers say not having met problem of financing from Credit Agricole. This does not mean that others have encountered!

However, it would seem that instructions have been passed in network to limit your commitments in the automotive and real estate sectors.

Non. We have never sent General instructions to regional banks so that they stop finance any business belonging to these sectors. Any request for support is anyway considered on a case by case. It is normal that a group be attentive to the companies to which it lends. This is not inconsistent with the commitments made Wednesday to the Ombudsman of the credit. He well understood because he welcomed "extremely heavy commitment" of the French banks and found that there was "more ambiguity" with respect to their obligations.

But don't you be afraid to be pinned by the Ombudsman on some folders

We work actively with local representatives of the Ombudsman. For the moment, the contentious cases are relatively numerous. Some ten cases related to agricultural credit reassembled to me of local meetings are most often problems of book orders or payment that a refusal of funding.

The commitment of banks on a growth of 3 to 4 of the outstanding credit by end 2009 is not finally modest

There is, of course, latency between the decline in the production of new credits and stock but need to reduce the rate of 4 to the recession which began. It is really a voluntary commitment. Of course, if we do more, so much the better! Remember that a bank earns money on the credit that it grants.

Do you take seriously the threat of nationalization of banks launched lately by the public authorities

Nationalise a bank is a complex operation. Should be to make vote a law of nationalization, or obtain agreement of the shareholders of the establishment concerned. I do indeed not the nationalization economic basis while no French Bank is in bankruptcy or in a situation of great fragility. For Credit Agricole, our group has 64 billion euros of equity and our Tier-1 ratio stood at 8.5 for Credit Agricole SA.