Crédit Mutuel

Crédit Mutuel is a major French bank, with headquarters in Strasbourg, Alsace. Its slogan is "La banque à qui parler" (The bank to speak to). It is currently run by Michel Lucas and Alain Fradin and has 7.4 million customers - roughly half of whom live in the Grand-Est, i.e. Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté and Burgundy.

Controversy

In 2010 the French government's Autorité de la concurrence (the department in charge of regulating competition) fined eleven banks, including Crédit Mutuel, the sum of 384,900,000 Euros for colluding to charge unjustified fees on check processing, especially for extra fees charged during the transition from paper check transfer to "Exchanges Check-Image" electronic transfer. ^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Collusion in the banking sector, Press Release of Autorité de la concurrence, République Française, 20 September 2010, retrv 2010 9 20
2. ^ 3rd UPDATE: French Watchdog Fines 11 Banks For Fee Cartel , Elena Bertson, Dow Jones News Wires / Wall Street Journal online, retr 2010 9 20