Groupe Caisse d'Épargne
Groupe Caisse d'épargne is a French semi-cooperative banking group, with around 4700 branches in the country. Its origins go back to the founding in 1818 of the , France's first savings bank. The group is active in retail and private banking, as well as holding a significant stake in the publicly traded investment bank Natixis. History. The first French savings bank () was created in Paris in 1818 by a group of financiers, social reformers and philanthropists that included Benjamin Delessert, Jean-Conrad Hottinguer, Joseph Marie de Gérando, Jacques Laffitte, the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, James  Mayer de Rothschild, and Vital Roux. In October 2008 Groupe Caisse d'épargne announced plans to merge with fellow mutual Groupe Banque Populaire, in response to recent consolidation in the banking industry. Press agency AFP linked the announcement directly to the ongoing financial crisis of 2007–2008. The companies intend however to retain their separate retail banking brands and branch networks. If the merger is completed, the enlarged company, would hold €480 billion in deposits and have over six million customers. Groupe Caisse d'épargne merged with the BFBP (Banque fédérale des banques populaires) in July 2009, and became BPCE, the France 's second largest bank. Operations. The group's most notable brand is the "Caisse d'épargne" network of mutual savings banks. Along with La Banque Postale and Crédit Mutuel, the bank shared the rights to offer the popular Livret A savings accounts, backed by the French government until January 1, 2009. In addition, the group is also the owner of the mortgage bank Crédit Foncier, the corporate and private bank Banque Palatine and Financière Océor, a commercial, private asset management and specialist finance bank serving France's overseas departments. In 2006 Groupe Caisse d'épargne merged its investment bank IXIS Corporate and  Investment Bank with Groupe Banque Populaire's Natexis, creating Natixis, a publicly traded investment bank in which Caisse d'épargne and Groupe Banque Populaire currently hold an equal stake of 35.25%. Groupe Caisse d'épargne has also since merged its private wealth management bank La Compagnie 1818 into the Natixis group. The group is listed in the 2007 ICA Global 300 list of mutuals and co-operatives, ranked 11th by 2005 turnover, making it the 2nd largest co-operative banking group in the world, after Crédit Agricole. It was the fourth French bank and the twenty-fifth bank in the world by  total assets in 2008. Trading loss. The company suffered a €751 million derivatives trading loss in October 2008, which it blamed partly on the high market volatility at the time. The group of employees responsible for making the unauthorised trades was dismissed. Sponsorship. The group was the title sponsor of a Spanish professional cycling team from 2006 to 2010, after which Movistar took over sponsorship.