PARIS (Reuters) - A French appeal court refused to overturn the acquittal of the head of French banking group BPCE Francois Perol in a conflict of interest case, rejecting a prosecutor's appeal for a conviction and a two-year suspended prison sentence.
Prosecutors had alleged there was a conflict of interest in his 2009 appointment as head of France's second-biggest retail bank and his position advising former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Perol, who chairs the management board of BPCE as well as the supervisory board of investment bank Natixis, had previously been cleared of wrongdoing in September 2015.
(Reporting by Michel Rose; editing by Richard Lough)
François Pérol (born on the 6 November 1963) is a French banker and high-ranking official and is the current chairman of Natixis.
Education
Pérol graduated from the HEC School of Business Administration, the Paris Institute of Political Science and the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA).
Career
In 1994, he was appointed rapporteur then Secretary General of the Interministerial Committee for Industrial Restructuring. Then he was Head of the office of financial markets to the Treasury from 1996 to 1999 and secretary general of the Club de Paris. In 2001, he was promoted as director of finance and business development of the French Treasury.
In 2002, he became director of Francis Mer's staff and Nicolas Sarkozy, the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry at that time. he was in charge of the rescue of Alcatel, Bull, France Telecom (playing a role in the denial to the latter, against the advice of the Treasury, an increase of capital from the state and the departure of its CEO, Michel Bon) and the recapitalization of Alstom, negotiated with the European Commission. It also follows the birth of Sanofi-Aventis, the French Government is negotiating with the U.S. court for the conclusion of the case Executive Life2, and organizes the sale of Ixis by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations aux Caisses d'Epargne.
Following his collaboration with Nicolas Sarkozy at the ministry of Economy, he was enrolled at the UMP in 2004. From 2005 to 2007, he was managing partner of Rothschild Bank. As such, he advises Philippe Dupont, CEO of Banque Populaire in the creation of Natixis.
In May 2007, he was appointed deputy secretary general of the Presidency of the French Republic, where he became the "great architect of the economic program of Nicolas Sarkozy". In the Clearstream affair he was accused by businessman Imad Lahoud for having organized a meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy, which he denies.
In 2009, he became CEO of Groupe BPCE, and in November 2012, he was re-elected for a further 4 years as Chairman of the Management Board.
He has also been president of the French Banking Federation since 1 September 2009.
| Linked companies | |
|---|---|
| Société par actions simplifiée SAPHIR | Chairman |
| Association des BP pour la Création d'Entreprise | Chairman |
