2023-05-03 11:12:00
It is the end of a fratricidal conflict, which will have mobilized employees, local elected officials and public authorities for fifteen years. The National Confederation of Crédit Mutuel (CNCM), the central body of the bank, and Arkéa, which brings together the federations of Brittany and the South-West, announced on Wednesday the signing of a “protocol of agreement”, voted “at the “unanimity” by the board of directors of the CNCM, which aims to preserve “the cohesion of Crédit Mutuel” while guaranteeing the “autonomy” of its 19 federations, including those of Arkéa, underline the two parties in a press release.
The agreement, which therefore buries the Breton banking group’s desire for independence, provides that “the regional groups freely determine their strategy and more broadly their business project, in compliance with prudential rules”, and the existence for the federations of a “right of veto (…) in the event of damage to their vital interests”.
Julien Carmona towards the vice-presidency
A position of vice-president of the CNMC, “which will fall by right to the president of the Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne federation”, is also created, allowing Arkéa to regain this position which it occupied until its abolition with a crash in January. 2011 and which should go to Julien Carmona, already president of Arkéa and the CMB. This memorandum of understanding will result “in the coming weeks” in “a draft revision of the statutes” submitted to an extraordinary general meeting and to the approval of the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire.
Internal tensions had turned into a legal conflict in 2014, opposing Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, whose headquarters are in Relecq-Kerhuon near Brest, and the CNCM, the central body which oversees all the federations of the group. The first accused the CNCM of centralization and favoritism in favor of the other dominant entity, the Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale (formerly Crédit Mutuel CM-11), which today brings together 14 federations.
The signatories underline the constructive nature of the negotiations and the spirit of confidence which animates them for the future
Fears about a possible split in the group peaked in 2018 when the Breton branch declared that it wanted to take its independence through its then president, Jean-Pierre Denis. This was followed by a demonstration in front of Bercy of thousands of employees dressed in red and marching to cries of “Vive Arkéa”. The sometimes latent, sometimes open conflict has resulted in numerous lawsuits and a multitude of acrimonious exchanges between the two entities.
Peaceful negotiations
While the independence project seemed to be at a standstill, discussions resumed in the summer of 2022, the CNCM then taking a step towards Arkéa, instructing its president Nicolas Théry “to put an end to a conflict which is neither in the interest of the members, nor commensurate with the current and future economic situation”. During the 2022 general assembly of Crédit Mutuel Centre-Est-Europe, the most important of the federations had the Breton singer Nolwenn Leroy perform, a nod to Arkéa.
Despite some tensions in the fall, with Arkéa castigating in particular the “unresponsible” attitude of the National Confederation of Crédit Mutuel (CNCM) and Nicolas Théry, also chairman of the Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, negotiations have accelerated in recent months. “Beyond the agreement itself, the signatories underline the constructive nature of the negotiations and the spirit of confidence which animates them for the future”, even affirmed the two parties in the press release, a tone which contrasts with to that of recent years.
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