Crédit Agricole SA acquires National Bank of Canada subsidiary in Nassau, Bahamas

On January 3, 2008, Crédit Agricole (Suisse) SA (CAS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole SA, based in Geneva completed its acquisition of all the issued and outstanding shares of National Bank of Canada (International) Limited., a subsidiary of National Bank of Canada (NBC), located in Nassau, Bahamas that specializes in international private banking. The amount of the transaction was not made public. CAS is active in private banking, capital market activities and transactional commodity financing. CAS is the third-largest foreign bank in Switzerland in terms of assets under management, total assets, shareholders' equity and net income. NBC is an integrated group which provides comprehensive financial services to consumers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations in its core market, while offering specialized services to its clients elsewhere in the world. NBC offers a full array of banking services, including retail, corporate and investment banking. It is an active player on international capital markets and, through its subsidiaries, is involved in securities brokerage, insurance and wealth management as well as mutual fund and retirement. NBC was represented in Canada by Fasken Martineau with a team that included Marc Beauchemin and Nicolas Faucher (corporate) and Serge Gloutnay (tax) and by Michèle Jenneau and Julia Mercier acting in-house transaction counsel for NBC.