A group of French banks have failed to set up a ‘superfund’ due to a lack of support, according to Les Echos.
The idea of the fund was devised by France’s top banks in order to help special investment units, which have had funding curbed by the global liquidity crisis.
BNP Paribas and Societe Generale led the plan for the superfund, but Credit Agricole refused to take part along with several others. In spite of the fact that the plan failed to get enough banks behind it, financial experts predict that it could still be a reality in the future as the credit crunch continues.
The Financial Times compares the idea with the $75 billion US superfund promoted by Citigroup, JP Morgan and Bank of America and backed by the treasury.
Some of the top French banks are more affected by the credit crisis than their writedowns would suggest, due to their sponsorship of securitisation channels, which are not reported on the balance sheets, the newspaper says.