Credit Agricole
 |
|
| Traded as | Euronext: ACA |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services, Banking |
| Founded | 1885 |
| Headquarters | Montrouge, France |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
Philippe Brassac (CEO of Crédit Agricole S.A.), Dominique Lefebvre (Chairman of Crédit Agricole S.A.) |
| Services | Credit cards, consumer banking, corporate banking, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, wealth management, asset management |
| Revenue |
 €31.178 billion (2013)
|
|
€11.484 billion (2013)
|
|
| Profit | €5.5 billion (2013) |
| Total assets | $1.661 trillion (2016) |
| Total equity | €47.889 billion (end 2013) |
|
Number of employees
|
150,000 (end 2013) |
| Subsidiaries | LCL Le Crédit Lyonnais, Crédit agricole CIB, Cariparma, Amundi, BforBank |
| Website | www.credit-agricole.com |
Crédit Agricole (French: [kʁedi aɡʁikɔl]), sometimes called the “Green Bank” because of its historical ties to farming, is a French network of cooperative and mutual banks comprising the 39 Crédit Agricole Regional Banks. In 1990, it became an international full-service banking group. It is listed through its holding company, Crédit Agricole S.A., on Euronext Paris’ first market and is part of the CAC 40 stock market index. In 2013, the Crédit Agricole Group reported revenues of €26.4 billion.
It was the title sponsor of the Crédit Agricole professional road cycling team from 1998 to 2008.
Source for most of the "History" section.
In the second half of the 19th Century, French farmers struggled to obtain long-term, flexible, reasonably-priced credit. There were several attempts to set up farming banks, including Crédit Foncier de France in 1861, but none was successful.
Crédit Agricole can trace its history back to the end of the 19th Century, and specifically to the Act of 1884 establishing the freedom of professional association, which authorised, among other things, the creation of farm unions and the foundation of local mutual banks.Société de Crédit Agricole was created on 23 February 1885 at Salins-les-Bains in the district of Poligny in the Jura region. It was the first of its kind in France.
Drawing on this experience and in an effort to promote lending to small family farms, the Act of 5 November 1894, which had the support of Minister for Agriculture Jules Méline, paved the way for the creation of Crédit Agricole’s Local Banks. The first Local Banks were set up by local elites, including agronomists, teachers and property owners, with farmers playing a minority role.
In the early years, business was made up exclusively of short-term loans provided as advances on harvests, enabling farmers to live more comfortably. Medium-term and long-term loans were added later, making it possible to buy equipment and livestock.
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Wikipedia