Bank capital: Natixis sets a new benchmark

Laurent Mignon, Natixis: an exhaustive examination

Now that its parents have guaranteed the most worrying remaining risks for Natixis, the French bank most badly damaged by the implosion of structured securitizations might be pointing the way forward to European commercial and investment banks. Other bank chief executives are still waiting for new capital rules and other regulations to be decided before laying out any refinements to their business models and earnings expectations. By contrast, new Natixis chief executive Laurent Mignon was already outlining expected results of his strategic reorganization to analysts and investors in September, even before the bank had returned to profitability following six successive loss-making quarters since the start of 2008.