SWF Radar CaisseDesDepotsEtConsignations

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Countries including France need to be pragmatic and open their arms to sovereign wealth funds but must tread cautiously to weed out the good from the bad, the chief executive of state bank Caisse des Depots said on Wednesday.”

Thomson Financial reports that, “French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he intends to make state-owned bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC) into a sovereign fund.”

The Independent reports that, “Christine Lagarde, France’s economy minister, may establish a French sovereign wealth fund to counter the rising power of the state-owned funds from the developed world. In a debate on French television, Mme Largarde called the idea ‘seductive’ and said she was thinking of creating a French fund. Such a move would represent an astonishing volte face from the country that has been one of the harshest critics of SWFs, many of which are controlled by Middle East and Asian governments in the developing world and have become increasingly active in Europe and America.”

The article adds that, “Mme Lagarde said a French SWF could be formed by hiving off some funds from the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), the massive state pension fund manager. The idea emerged from a report commissioned by M. Sarkozy into ways to increase France’s economic growth.”

The Financial Times reports that, “President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday gave his backing to a far-reaching plan to liberalise the French economy and raise its trend rate of growth to 3 per cent within five years. … Although the commission [that formulated the plan] argues its recommendations are broadly cost neutral, it is counting on the Caisse des Depôts et Consignations, France’s sovereign wealth fund, to help finance ten new university ‘centres of excellence’ and universal access to super high-speed internet services by 2016.”