Paris, 11 June 2007 - Crédit Agricole S.A. received approval on 8 June 2007 from Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) for the setting up of Crédit Agricole Life Insurance Company Japan Ltd.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Crédit Agricole S.A., this Tokyo-based life insurer will be capitalised initially at 2 billion yen (12.5 million euros). From autumn 2007, it will target the country's fast-growing bancassurance market, with special emphasis on unit-linked retirement savings (variable annuities). It will distribute its products through the networks of Japanese partner banks.

The company's establishment is a major step in Crédit Agricole S.A.'s international expansion. The new company will draw on the bancassurance skills of the Group, which is recognised as a specialist in designing bancassurance products and organising distribution through banks. These skills, along with the Group's existing strengths in Japan, will enable the new company to create further growth in the Group's international insurance business and to market attractive new products to customers of Japanese banks.

Crédit Agricole Life Japan is the first life insurer to be granted an operating licence by the FSA since 2002.