Cheerleading backlash

4 September 2012 By Pierre Briançon

The French branch of the bank is in hot water for getting a government contract from the finance ministry after its chief loudly supported the socialist government and hired an economics minister’s partner at one of his newspapers. Lazard may have got the mandate anyway.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

The French government has chosen Lazard as an adviser for the creation of the Banque Publique d’Investissement (BPI) that President François Hollande has promised to set up during his electoral campaign.
State-owned BPI will provide loans to SMEs and “innovating” firms at subsidised rates, with the aim of easing the financing of French companies that find it difficult to fund themselves on the markets.
Arnaud Montebourg, the French minister for economic recovery, said he “regretted” the choice of Lazard after media allegations that the bank had been chosen because Matthieu Pigasse, the French unit’s chief executive, had hired Montebourg’s partner as editor-in-chief of a weekly news magazine he owns.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *