The chairman of BPCE, France's second-biggest retail bank, was put under judicial investigation to determine if his nomination to head the group in 2009 represented a conflict of interest, a legal source told Reuters on Thursday, reports Reuters.
Francois Perol, who was nominated by then President Nicolas Sarkozy, had previously worked at the investment company Rothschild & Cie, which played a key role in the merger that placed BPCE group in second place after Credit Agricole Group.
Perol, 50, appeared in a closed Paris courtroom on Thursday to answer questions from an investigative magistrate.
BPCE declined to comment immediately on the hearing.
Read more of this report from Reuters.