Dexia will submit the request to withdraw the licenses for banking and investment services to the French financial regulator ACPR on Tuesday. Dexia wants to continue as a non-bank from the beginning of 2024. The withdrawal of the license should make it possible to further rationalize the activities, simplify operations and thus save money, it is said.
“The application to withdraw our banking license is a logical step in the orderly resolution of the group,” says managing director Pierre Crevits in a press release. “This decision, which we wanted to prepare and plan, was made possible by the many efforts to reduce our balance sheet and simplify our structure, including the merger by absorption of Dexia Crediop. Progress was also made in terms of refinancing, which means that today the Group no longer needs to rely on central bank financing.”
Dexia will continue to benefit from the guarantee of the Belgian and French States for its financing, according to the press release. According to Dexia, this state guarantee was extended in 2021 for a period of ten years. The guarantee ceiling is 75 billion euros, of which Belgium is responsible for 53 percent.
Dexia went under during the banking crisis of 2008. The Belgian bank branch was removed from the group in 2011 and renamed Belfius. The residual bank Dexia has since been phasing out its activities, such as loans and bonds, in an orderly fashion.