Française du Commerce Extérieur (BFCE), a specialized bank providing export financing services. In 1996, Crédit National purchased BFCE, and the merged entity renamed itself as Natexis, in which natex is a portmanteau of national and extérieur. The CCBP purchased Natexis in 1998, and renamed it Natexis Banques Populaires. In 1999, the CCBP was replaced by a new banking entity, the (BFBP). Natexis Banques Populaires purchased Coface in 2002. That same year, cooperative bank the joined the Banque Populaire network. Natixis In 2006 the two groups, Caisse d'Épargne and Banque Populaire, agreed to merge their commercial and investment banking subsidiaries, respectively Ixis and Natexis Banques Populaires. The new entity was given the name Natixis, a portmanteau of Natexis and Ixis. Natixis went through an initial public offering on , after which CNCE and BFBP each owned 35 percent of its equity capital, the rest being free float. Natixis, however, soon suffered from poor capital allocation and risk management choices in the context of the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, including on investments into Bernie Madoff's funds. Key executives had to resign or were sacked: Nicolas Mérindol and , respectively CEO and chairman of CNCE, on ; and Bruno Mettling, respectively chairman of Natixis and CEO of BFBP, on ; and , CEO of Natexis, on . Creation of BPCE and subsequent developments In 2008 and early 2009, the French state provided around 7 billion euros of financial support to the group formed by Caisse d'Épargne, Banque Populaire and Natixis. François Pérol, a senior aide to President Nicolas Sarkozy, led the decision-making on the group's restructuring. The entity resulting from the merger of CNCE and BFBP, named BPCE, was formed on . That same day, Pérol became its CEO while , previously the chairman of Groupe Banque Populaire, became non-executive chairman of BPCE. In 2014, BPCE had Coface listed through an initial public offering, and subsequently reduced its equity stake. As of March 2021, BPCE retained residual ownership of 12.7 percent of Coface's capital. In July 2016, BPCE announced the purchase of Fidor Bank, a Fintech challenger bank, operating in the UK and Germany, but in November 2018 considered selling it again. In 2018–2019, BPCE fully integrated the former Crédit Foncier de France's activities into its other operations and terminated the use of the Crédit Foncier brand. In June–July 2021, it acquired all shares of Natixis that it did not previously own, and