Above all, Crédit Agricole wants to build on its strengths of stability and solidity, major competitive advantages in the current period. The organisation of our network of private banks, under the global banner Crédit Agricole Private Bank, makes it possible to provide a broad range of products and services that can be adapted as appropriate to changes in client expectations and to provide a multimarket approach, a potentially differentiating asset. This decentralised organisation benefits from the performances of S2i, our IT and back office platform. Along with this know-how that guides our orientations, our organisation as a network of private banks enables sharing the full range of strategic approaches to marketing, product lines, asset allocation principles and compliance.

The crisis has reinforced our desire to be cautious in the investment decisions and advice we have provided clients over the past few years. We are subject to some market trends   but have managed to deal with them successfully thanks to a balanced approach that respects our clients’ interests. The concerns of the crisis are currently shared by all of the world’s private banks but to highly differing degrees. The crisis masks real opportunities and will have major consequences for our clients and organisation. Crédit Agricole’s private banks have both individual and collective advantages in order to come out of the crisis strengthened.

Yes, Europe, Asia and Latin America are the major regions that appear to us to be the best suited for strengthening our development model. In terms of product offerings, we also want to develop discretionary management and our multi-market offering.

2009 is a difficult year because of the deterioration of the economic and financial crisis and its consequences for the behavior of private clients and the quality of risk. Based on our track record, however, these elements should strengthen the competitive positioning of our operations.