PARIS (Reuters) - Francois Perol, the head of France's second-biggest banking group BPCE, will step down in June and be replaced by Natixis chief Laurent Mignon, BPCE said on Thursday.
Perol chaired the management board of BPCE as well as the supervisory board of investment bank Natixis (PA:CNAT). His resignation comes almost a year after he was cleared by a French court in a conflict of interest case.
Les Echos newspaper said Perol, who worked as a top adviser to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, will join merchant bank Rothschild & Cie.
Natixis said Francois Riahi, who joined the BPCE group in 2009, would be its new CEO from June 1, while Mignon would become chairman of Natixis' board of directors.