Mutual carelessness

French banks are yet to learn the virtues of pre-emptive strikes. By the time Natixis, the French corporate and investment bank, finally acknowledged that it does need to raise capital, rumours had been persistent enough to send the stock into free fall – it’s down 30% since the beginning of the month. Worse, Banques Populaires and Caisses d’Epargne, the mutual banking networks that jointly own 70% of Natixis, seemed to send the message they didn’t much care about the share price anyway – a bonu...