The state-owned mail operator La Poste took over CNP Assurances in a bid to create a state-controlled bank and insurer focused on the country's rural areas.

CNP Assurances said on July 15 that its chairman Jean-Paul Faugere was to step down due to his candidacy for a position at the French financial regulator ACPR. The board's remuneration and nominations committee was to propose in a meeting on July 31 the appointment of an independent director, who will also be nominated to be the board's chairman.

La Poste said on Wednesday Remy Weber was stepping down as Chairman of the Management Board of La Banque Postale, following a difference of opinion on the governance of CNP Assurances, "to devote himself to new projects".

CNP Assurances declined to comment.

(Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)