A state puppet?

“OUR aim”, says Mr Jean-Yves Haberer, the head of Crédit Lyonnais, one of France's two big state-owned banks, “is to create a German bank à la française.” He and his lieutenants have not wasted time. After a two-year spending spree, Crédit Lyonnais now has a European network to rival that of the mighty Deutsche Bank. It has banking assets of $270 billion and has amassed an impressive portfolio of stakes in top French companies. Could the bank have grown so big, so fast if it were privately-owned?