Bernard Delas has joined the Crédit Agricole S.A. group as head of international insurance.

Mr Delas will be responsible for preparing and implementing Crédit Agricole S.A.'s international growth strategy for its insurance business.

The entity directed by Mr Delas will be set up within the Crédit Agricole S.A. group and will report to Jean-Frédéric de Leusse, a member of the Executive Committee and head of International Retail Banking and Private Equity.

Bernard Delas, aged 55, was trained as an economist and has spent most of his career in the insurance industry.

From 1971 to 1989, he held a number of posts at SAMDA, a subsidiary of Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles, before joining Groupama Central as Director of Business Development in 1989. In 1990, Mr Delas was appointed Chief Executive of Groupama Nord Est, based in Rheims, before moving back to Groupama Central in 1993 as Chief Executive for French insurance business.

In 1995, he was appointed Chief Executive of Caisse Centrale Groupama and Groupama S.A, and in 1998 became Chairman of the Executive Committee of Groupama-GAN, a post he held until 2000. At the same time, he served as Chairman of Fédération Française des Sociétés d'Assurances Mutuelles (FFSAM) and Vice-Chairman of Fédération Française des Sociétés d'Assurances (FFSA).

In early 2001, Bernard Delas joined CNP Assurances as Chief Executive of CNP International. He was a member of the Executive Board of CNP Assurances from June 2002 to December 2003, since which time he has served as advisor to the Chairman of the Executive Board of CNP Assurances.