The illustrious history of a cooperative and local and regional bank

Arkéa is a fine entrepreneurial story that began more than a century ago in Brittany, then in the South-Western and continues today throughout France and Europe.  

In Brittany, the group has its roots in the Central Office of Mutual Agricultural Works of Finistère. Created in 1911 on the initiative of several landowners who wanted to speed up the modernisation of the Breton countryside, the Central Office succeeded in federating all the mutualist, cooperative and social works of the department before meeting the multiple needs of farmers in the fields of credit, insurance and vocational training. The Central Office presided over the creation of several leading mutual groups, including Triskalia, Groupama and Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne. Created in 1979, the Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne (CMB) federation covers the whole of Brittany.  From the 1980s onwards, Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne expanded its range of services to meet new customer expectations. Under the governance of Louis Lichou and Yves Le Baquer, subsidiaries were launched: Suravenir (life insurance and provident insurance), Suravenir Assurances and Novélia (casualty insurance), Federal Finance (asset management), Arkéa Banque Entreprises et Institutional (formerly known as Commercial Banking for the Corporate Market - corporate finance), Financo (consumer credit)