Late 20th century

Development of the financial markets

The role of financial companies changed at the end of the 20th century, with the merging of banks and insurance companies to create large financial groups which would become true market intermediaries. The 1980s saw the deregulation of the banking sector, marking the end of specialised banking and freeing up banks to market a range of different services.

In France a number of banks, such as Société Générale, Crédit Agricole and Paribas were privatised. In the 1990s the French banking sector went through a number of restructurings often resulting from collapses or near-collapses, such as that of Crédit Lyonnais in 1993. Other mergers ensued, such as that between BNP and Paribas.