Public financial institution | |
Founded | 1816 |
Headquarters | Paris |
Key people
|
Pierre-René Lemas |
1.371 Billion EUR (2015) | |
Total assets | 155.844 billion EUR (2015) |
Total equity | 35.139 Billion EUR (2015) |
Number of employees
|
138,196 (2013) |
Subsidiaries | CNP Assurances, Icade, Société nationale immobilière (SNI), Transdev, Compagnie des Alpes, Egis, CDC Entreprises, Qualium Investissement, FSI, CDC Arkhinéo, Société forestière, CDC Biodiversité, CDC Climat, CDC Infrastructure,Informatique CDC |
Website | www.caissedesdepots.fr/ |
The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (English: Deposits and Consignments Fund) is a French public sector financial institution created in 1816, and part of the government institutions under the control of the Parliament. Often described as the “investment arm” of the French State, it is defined in the French Monetary and Financial Code as a “public group serving the public interest” and a “long-term investor”. Since 2014, Pierre-René Lemas has served as its CEO.
As set out within the French Monetary and Financial Code, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations carries out missions of public interest in support of the public policies implemented by the State and local government bodies. It contributes to the development of enterprises in line with its own proprietorial interests, and may also exercise competitive activities. It ensures, on behalf of the State and local authorities, missions of general interest:
All the subsidiaries are presented with CDC’s ownership percentage and, if applicable, the French State’s.
Bpifrance S.A. (French State 50%, CDC 50%): Development of shareholding and funding for SMEs
CNP Assurances 41%: Personal Risk insurer
La Poste (French state 74% / CDC 26%): Local banking and postal services
Independently of the presence of the operational subsidiaries, the Caisse des Dépôts group ensures an institutional presence internationally. Caisse des Dépôts develops bilateral and multilateral relations with partner institutions which allow for the promotion of long-term investment and the development of investment projects in France and abroad, particularly in projects relating to the energy transition.
The European level takes on a crucial importance for the Caisse des Dépôts group taking into account the drive and influence of the European Union on investments and public interventions in France.
Since the Financial crisis of 2007–08, Caisse des Dépôts, along with other public financial institutions in the European Union, has undertaken the promotion of the specific model of asset management with a long term horizon. In 2009, Caisse des Dépots, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the European Investment Bank and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau(KfW) created the Long Term Investors Club (LTIC) with the aim of bringing together worldwide institutions to emphasis common identity as long-term investors, to encourage cooperation and to foster appropriate conditions for long-term investments. Today the Long-Term Investors Club gathers 18 financial institutions and institutional investors mainly from G20 countries, representing a combined balance sheet total of USD 5.4 trillion. Also in 2011, Caisse des Dépôts and other institutional investors held a national summit on long-term investment in France. From the summit a Report was drafted and it gained momentum in the financial establishment. This led to the creation of the “task force of the Paris stock exchange on long term investment” under the guidance of former financial director of AXA insurance company Gerard de la Martiniere. Still active today, the task force is dedicated to the promotion of the model of long term investment to the institutions of the European Union on a regulatory, fiscal, accounting and prudential level. After the publication of the European Commission Green Paper on the long-term financing of the economy, in July 2013, Caisse des Dépôts, together with the European members of the Long Term Investors Club, cofounded the European Long Term Investors Association. This association allows for the undertaking of joint actions in order to highlight this specific investor model with public stakeholders and the European Union.The Eltia gathers 27 European long-term financial institutions. With a combined balance sheet of €2.45 trillion, ELTIA’s goal is to promote long-term investment in alignment with the objectives and initiatives developed by the European Union. Caisse des Dépôts also contributes to the work of the European Parliament Intergroup on long term investment and reindustrialisation which was implemented at the start of the election of the European Parliament in 2014.