The French government has agreed to a $6.3 billion bailout of Caisse Centrale du Credit Immobilier de France (CCCIF), a financial institution specializing in mortgage lending.
The Wall Street Journal reports that CCCIF was unable to raise adequate funding to pay down bonds that fell due yesterday. France's Finance Ministry guaranteed the debt and announced that it would seek approvals from the French parliament and the European Union to extend additional state guarantees to CCCIF.
However, the Finance Ministry would not commit to seeking the eventual wind down of CCCIF's operations, nor would it say if it would encourage the bank's purchase by another financial institution.
CCCIF issued a statement saying that it was ‘grateful’ for the government's assistance. CCCIF currently has about $38 billion in outstanding loans, 300 branches in France and approximately 2,500 employees.
