Print Edition
September 2010 
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Dexia Agrees On Restructuring With EU |
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Pauline Renaud, February 2010 |
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(08 February 2010)
Dexia SA, the world’s largest lender to local authorities, has agreed on a restructuring deal with European regulators on Friday, which will see the financial institution shrink its operations by over a third. Dexia indeed pledged to cut its balance sheet by 35 percent by 2014 from the 2008 level.
The lender, which received €6.4bn from Belgium, France and Luxembourg in 2008 amid the financial crisis, said it would divest activities in Italy, Spain and Slovakia, as well as its insurance business in Turkey. It also promised to cut its short-term borrowing to 10 percent by 2014.
The bank has already sold off a 20 percent stake in French lender Crédit du Nord to Société Générale, and has agreed to sell its life insurance business Dexia Epargne Pension to BNP Paribas Insurance.
It has also agreed to restrictions on dividends and hybrid debt and will refrain from acquisitions until the end of 2011.
“We will once again become a bank with a very strong retail presence,” Dexia chief executive Pierre Mariani told reporters at a briefing in Paris. “We will continue to open up new retail branches and we will go out to win back the confidence of our clients.” Dexia expects to exit state guarantees by 30 June 2010.
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