Paris Financial Marketplace Offers Array Of Cutting-Edge Services
(1888PressRelease) April 20, 2010 – France’s attractive regulatory environment and great variety of institutions in the financial-services sector – supervisory and regulatory authorities, trade associations, banks, insurance firms, brokers, issuers and stock exchange operators – offer a network that is conducive to expanding investment banking, asset management, real-estate lending and consumer-credit activities, as well as pension funds.
The Paris Stock Exchange – an integral part of Euronext, the pan-European stock exchange and a division of transatlantic group NYSE Euronext – is now the leading stock exchange in the Eurozone in terms of transaction volumes and market capitalisation. The Paris financial marketplace is also a key location for Euro-markets and Europe’s leader in the commercial paper and corporate bond markets.
As the European leader in fund management, France is one of the leading countries for asset management outside the United States. Five French groups are among the 25 leading third-party asset-management providers in the world. BNP Paribas-Fortis, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole and BCPE are among the world’s 10 largest banks in terms of assets, while AXA is Europe’s leading insurance firm.
“The presence in France of major international names, such as Allianz, Barclays, Generali, HSBC, JP Morgan, Swiss Life and BMO-Bank of Montreal, reflects France’s attractiveness in this sector,” says David Appia, Chairman and CEO of the Invest in France Agency.
The Paris financial marketplace offers assistance and support to international financial institutions that wish to develop their activities in the Eurozone, through a range of organisations. Paris Europlace promotes the marketplace’s institutions internationally and participates in European consultation exercises and projects regarding the organisation of financial markets across Europe.
Finance Innovation, the financial-services cluster based in Paris, approves innovative financial projects in areas such as SME funding, the application of IT to finance, financial analysis and information, asset and risk assessment, as well as finance and sustainable development.
Specialist organisations, including the Louis Bachelier Institute (ILB), the European Institute of Financial Regulation (EIFR) and the Europlace Institute of Finance (EIF), undertake international cooperation initiatives in high-value-added fields, in partnership with universities and research centres, as well as with clusters in other countries.
In a constantly changing financial environment, the Paris financial marketplace has become more competitive in terms of regulation, taxation and legislation, to the advantage of companies, investors and savers. Following the French Law for the Modernisation of the Economy (4 August 2008), five rulings issued in 2009 have thoroughly reformed French finance law, addressing, among other things, the ease with which international companies can be listed on the stock exchange, securities law, preference shares, the transparency of financial markets, financial instruments and the drafting of accounting standards.
Further measures, currently being drawn up, will continue to promote financial regulation and supervision, notably to help potential strong-growth sectors emerge, such as carbon trading, social finance and Islamic finance.
About Invest in France
The Invest in France Agency (IFA) promotes and facilitates international investment in France. The IFA network operates worldwide. IFA works in partnership with regional development agencies to offer international investors business opportunities and customized services all over France.
For more information about this press release, please contact Julien Ravalais-Casanova, Director of Communications at the Invest in France Agency in London, on julien.ravalais-casanova ( @ ) investinfrance dot org
For further information, please go to: www.investinfrance.org and www.paris-europlace.net
