Mergers between national banks are simpler than a takeover by a foreigner

"In reality, today we are in a European market that does not exist for retail banking businesses. It is not the same to take out a mortgage in France and in Italy, it is not the same to save in Spain and in Germany," explained Jérôme Grivet, Deputy CEO of Crédit Agricole SA, during a conference organized in Paris by the rating agency S&P.

"When we see consolidation operations at the moment, in reality, when we analyse them carefully, they are domestic operations" (within the same country), he continued.

According to him, in retail banking, presented as the activity which "for the moment at least (...) has its branch on the street corner", there are major differences between countries, particularly cultural and regulatory.

Crédit Agricole SA, a listed entity of Crédit Agricole, holds nearly 20% of Banco BPM's capital, and in early July requested permission from the European Central Bank (ECB) to exceed this threshold.

Italy's third-largest bank was at the time the target of a hostile takeover bid from the country's second-largest bank, UniCredit, which has since been withdrawn.

Banco BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna, interviewed on CNBC on September 18, said that a merger with Crédit Agricole Italia's Italian subsidiary was "the clearest opportunity" on the table.

Asked about the subject, Mr. Grivet refused to comment on "the Italian media news" but mentioned "a whole series of hypotheses," without going into detail.

The director also recalled the trajectory of Crédit Agricole Italia, "built up over time with a whole series of acquisitions" starting "from a very small network", Cariparma, then carrying out "domestic consolidation".

Crédit Agricole has nearly 1.000 branches in Italy, 8.200 employees and more than 1,7 million customers, according to its website.

Mr. Grivet also regretted "the complicated and illegible political situation" in France, and deplored a trajectory of public debt "which shows a regular deterioration and which stands out greatly among the other countries of the Eurozone."