Deep-rooted and long-standing ties between Crédit Agricole Group and Japan

Banque de l'Indochine
The first mention of Japan in the archives of Banque de l'Indochine dates back to 1892, when the French consul in Yokohama requested the opening of a branch in the city, a request that would not be fulfilled for another 54 years.

The bank nonetheless maintained ties with Japan. In 1907, it took a 5% stake in the founding of the Société d'étude du port de Moji. In 1912, it participated in the establishment of the Banque franco-japonaise with a contribution of 500,000 francs. In 1918, it contributed to the founding of the Franco-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The 1920s were marked by Japan's economic crisis. The 1923 earthquake severely weakened the country. Banque de l'Indochine subscribed 100,000 francs in relief for the victims and closely monitored its risk exposure with certain firms established in Japan.

Le Crédit Lyonnais
As early as the late 19^th century, Le Crédit Lyonnais showed an interest in the Japanese archipelago. The bank regularly produced studies on the Japanese state's finances, its economy and its borrowings. In 1898, Le Crédit Lyonnais ranked Japan among countries with second-tier financial management (on a three-tier scale), despite its low level of indebtedness. Exchanges with Yokohama Specie Bank (the forerunner of Bank of Tokyo, which became MUFG) took place regarding the placement of potential loans, and Japanese bonds were subsequently placed by Le Crédit Lyonnais on a regular basis during the first half of the 20th century on behalf of Japanese clients.

During the 1930s, Japan was frequently mentioned in Le Crédit Lyonnais's annual reports, which praised the successes of Japanese industry and recognised the country's growing presence in export markets. However, Le Crédit Lyonnais did not establish a physical presence during this period.

Missed opportunities and early attempts at establishing a presence illustrate the considerable challenges faced by French financial institutions in the archipelago at the beginning of the 20th century.

Banque de l'Indochine
On 27 January 1940, a French ministerial decree finally authorised the creation of a branch in Japan. However, the war caused severe delays to the branch’s establishment due to difficulties such as relocations, bombings and administrative obstacles. It was not until 30 September 1946 that the American authorities finally authorised the Tokyo branch of Banque de l'Indochine to start operations. Following National City Bank of New York, Banque de l'Indochine thus became the second foreign bank to establish itself in Tokyo after the war.

The branch quickly took on a leading role in supporting the local network of French companies. In 1948, it made a room available for the general meeting of the Franco-Japanese Chamber of Commerce. Its director, Roger Aubrun, went on to become President of the Chamber in 1950.

Banque de l'Indochine later merged with Banque de Suez et de l'Union des Mines in 1975 to form Banque Indosuez.

Le Crédit Lyonnais
In 1970, Crédit Lyonnais opened a representative office in Tokyo responsible for covering Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. The bank joined the Franco-Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo.

In 1973, Le Crédit Lyonnais signed an agreement with Mitsui Bank to provide credit facilities to companies established in France and Japan.

Following lengthy negotiations with Japanese banking authorities and institutions, Le Crédit Lyonnais finally opened its Tokyo branch on 24 November 1977. Located in the Hibiya Park Building, it faced the Imperial Palace in the financial district. Several senior staff from friendly Japanese banks (LTCB, Sanwa, Mitsui, Bank of Japan) were seconded to facilitate the establishment for one to two years.

Le Crédit Lyonnais
From the early 1980s, Le Crédit Lyonnais supported Japanese companies in their listings on the Paris Stock Exchange: Ricoh in 1981, Toray in 1982, Toshiba Corporation in 1983, Sharp and Honda Motor Co. Ltd in 1984. In the other direction, the bank assisted major French companies in establishing a presence in Japan, including Club Méditerranée, La Brioche Dorée and Bouygues.

A new office opened in Osaka in 1982, upgraded to a full branch in 1984. Another milestone was reached in 1987 with the creation of a securities branch in Tokyo (Crédit Lyonnais Securities), nicknamed the "Shoken". It grew rapidly: by 1989, it employed 80 staff, compared with 100 across the Tokyo and Osaka branches.

By 1997, Le Crédit Lyonnais Japan employed 350 people working across corporate banking, markets activities, structured finance and asset management. Its client base was 95% Japanese, demonstrating an excellent degree of local integration.

Early contacts (1979–1985)
The origins of Crédit Agricole's international network date back to 1979 with the opening of a Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole (CNCA) branch in Chicago. That same year, Crédit Agricole turned its attention to Japan: Antoine Jeancourt-Galignani, Deputy Chief Executive of the Caisse Nationale, visited the archipelago and reported on the country's potential as a major importer of agricultural products.

In 1982, the CNCA's Board of Directors travelled to Japan to "gain a better understanding of the characteristics of the country's economic, financial and banking organisation." Interest in the archipelago was further affirmed in April 1984, when the Fédération Nationale du Crédit Agricole brought together 300 people in Paris, including 130 business leaders, for a "Japan Day" aimed at boosting exports.

Establishing a physical presence (1986-1990)
In 1985, the CNCA opened a branch in Hong Kong, seen as a gateway to identifying business opportunities in Japan for Crédit Agricole's partners. On 20 December 1985, the Board of Directors authorised the Caisse Nationale to open a representative office in Tokyo.

1986 marked the beginning of the CNCA representative office's operations, officially inaugurated on 29 October 1987 in the presence of Chief Executive Bernard Auberger. Led by Michel A. Bovy, the five-person team was tasked with developing a business placing French securities with Japanese institutional investors.

That same year, on 6 February 1987, the CNCA carried out the first international euro-yen bond issuance of 20 billion yen. The following year, its subsidiary Union d'études et d'investissements (UI) established a venture capital fund in Japan worth 5 million dollars in partnership with Daiwa.

Crédit Agricole Indosuez and consolidation
In 1996, the Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole acquired Banque Indosuez merging its international network with this new subsidiary, which was renamed Crédit Agricole Indosuez (CAI). The Group's entities present in Japan at that time included Caisse Nationale representative office, Crédit Agricole Indosuez branch, Indosuez Airfinance Asia Ltd, Indosuez WI Carr Securities (Japan) Ltd and Indosuez Asset Management (Japan) Ltd.

The merger with Le Crédit Lyonnais
In 2003, Crédit Agricole S.A. acquired Le Crédit Lyonnais. The combination strengthened Crédit Agricole Group's position in Japan. The corporate and investment banking operations of Le Crédit Lyonnais were transferred to Crédit Agricole Indosuez. The combined entity was rebranded Calyon and subsequently Crédit Agricole CIB from 2010 onwards.

Crédit Agricole CIB
Crédit Agricole CIB in Japan is today one of the Group's principal Asian platforms, supporting major Japanese corporates and financial institutions in their international development as well as multinationals based in Japan. The bank employs more than 230 staff at its offices in Azabudai Hills, Tokyo.

Crédit Agricole CIB's main business lines in Japan:

• Corporate Banking: the bank supports major Japanese groups in meeting their domestic and international financing needs.
• Capital Markets: historically one of the core strengths of the Japanese franchise.
• Structured Finance: Crédit Agricole CIB is particularly active in infrastructure, energy, aviation and real estate. Japan is notably an important hub for aviation finance and JOLCO (Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option) structures, an area in which the bank is widely recognised.
• International support for Japanese corporates: one of the distinctive features of the Japanese platform is its ability to assist Japanese groups in their global expansion across Europe, the United States and Asia. To this end, Crédit Agricole CIB has dedicated Japanese desks in London, Paris and New York working in close coordination with the Tokyo teams.

Amundi
The history of Amundi in Japan is rooted in the asset management activities developed by the entities that preceded its creation.

Early days with Indosuez Asset Management
From 1996, following the acquisition of Banque Indosuez by the Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole, Indosuez Asset Management (Japan) Ltd (then renamed Indocam Japan Ltd) became part of the Group's entities present in Japan. For Indocam, the key to the Asian market lay in Japan, which became the focal point for its sales efforts from 1997 onwards, at a time when the country was experiencing very strong activity in the pension fund sector.

Despite the real estate and financial crisis of 1997–1998, which severely weakened many financial institutions, Indocam Japan Ltd obtained the Investment Trust Management licence, granting it access to the Japanese retail distribution market. In 1999, John Hancock Funds acquired a 25% stake in Indocam Japan. The partnership was "designed to create and distribute financial products on the Japanese market for both retail investors and institutional investors and pension funds."

The CAAM era: spectacular growth
Following the merger with Le Crédit Lyonnais in 2003, the entity became CAAM Japan (Crédit Agricole Asset Management). CAAM Japan established a strategic partnership with Daiwa in 2000 (which became Resona in 2002), manufacturing capital-protected products that the Japanese bank could offer to its clients.

In 2002, CAAM acquired a 5% stake in Daiwa Trust and Banking Company (DTBC), a subsidiary of Daiwa Bank Holdings specialising in custody and trust banking. DTBC ranked among Japan's leading trust banking players, with assets under custody and management of 175 billion dollars. The transaction was valued at 87 million euros. This agreement gave CAAM a foothold in the Japanese pension fund and asset management distribution markets, which were notoriously difficult for foreign operators to access.

CAAM's growth in Japan was exponential: in 2001, three funds with 300 million dollars in assets under management; in 2002, ten funds with 700 million dollars; in 2003, fifteen funds with 1.2 billion dollars. By 2003, CAAM had become the number one player in Japan in structured products (guaranteed or capital-protected). Within two years, the CAAM brand had established itself as a benchmark for quality among Japanese retail investors. The CAAM sales team in Japan numbered around thirty people at that time.

By 2005, Crédit Agricole Structured Asset Management (CASAM), a specialist in structured management, had become the market leader in Japan with a 30% market share, a position it maintained following the 2008 financial crisis.

Amundi in Japan in 2026
Amundi Japan is today one of Amundi's largest subsidiaries in Asia, with approximately 180 employees and nearly 9.8 trillion yen in assets under management (approximately €60–65 billion), serving a client base comprising Japanese retail investors, institutional investors and corporates.

CA Life Japan
The creation of Crédit Agricole Life Japan illustrates the Group's strategy of developing a multi-business presence in Japan, building on the commercial relationships established by Amundi and Crédit Agricole CIB and capitalising on the opening of the Japanese market to bancassurance in the mid-2000s.

The groundwork: feasibility study (2005) and opening of the representative office (2006)
The story of Crédit Agricole Life Japan begins in 2005, when the international insurance division of Crédit Agricole S.A. seconded a senior executive to the CAAM Japan teams to conduct an opportunity and feasibility study into the potential for Crédit Agricole to launch a life insurance and/or creditor insurance business in Japan.

The initial findings confirmed that the opportunity was real: the market offered attractive potential, particularly in the context of the ongoing opening to bancassurance. The excellent relationships built up over several years between CAAM and a number of Japanese banks (notably the Resona Group) were well placed to facilitate and accelerate the development of a life insurance business for Crédit Agricole S.A. in the country.
On this basis, the Board of Directors of Crédit Agricole S.A. authorised the opening of a new representative office of Crédit Agricole S.A. in Japan, housed within the premises of CAAM Japan.

Incorporation of the subsidiary (2006) and launch of operations (2008)
This new business line reached its culmination in 2006 with the incorporation of Crédit Agricole Life Japan as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crédit Agricole S.A.

From 2008, CA Life Insurance Japan moved into the same building as Crédit Agricole CIB, thereby facilitating collaboration between the Group's various entities in Japan.

CA Life Japan in 2026
Unlike many Japanese insurers that rely on agent networks, Crédit Agricole Life Japan distributes its products primarily through Japanese partner banks.
This is the Crédit Agricole Group's longstanding model: selling savings and insurance solutions through the banking network (“bancassurance”).