Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Caisse des dépôts et consignations The Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC; ) is a French public sector financial institution created in 1816, and part of the government institutions under the control of the Parliament. Often described as the "investment arm" of the French ...

HLM An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France.Eurozone debt. The remaining funds are used by banks to give loans to French

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

. The product acts as a

savings account A savings account is a bank account at a retail bank. Common features include a limited number of withdrawals, a lack of cheque and linked debit card facilities, limited transfer options and the inability to be overdrawn. Traditionally, transac ...

for French citizens and residents, and the annual returns are not taxed. In May 2022, it was owned by 55 million individuals, for a total amount of 358,8 billion

euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . T ...

.

Early history

The Livret A was established in 1818 by King

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

to pay back the debts incurred during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

.Mathias Thépot
Où va vraiment l'argent du Livret A ?
''

La Tribune ''La Tribune'' () is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH. From 1993 to 2007, ''La Tribune'' was part of LVMH. In 2010 ...

'', February 22, 2012Marc Vignaud
COMPRENDRE - Comment le livret A finance le logement social
''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris. History and profile ''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...

'', October 1, 2008 The funds are held and re-invested through the

Caisse des dépôts et consignations The Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC; ) is a French public sector financial institution created in 1816, and part of the government institutions under the control of the Parliament. Often described as the "investment arm" of the French ...

, founded in 1816. In the 19th century, the funds were used to build railroad tracks and canals throughout France. Between World War I and World War II, it was used to install electricity in rural France. Since 1945, it has mostly been used to build social housing.

Investments

Part of the funds are invested through the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, which is fully owned by the French state. In 2011, a decree issued by the Prime Minister suggested that French banks had to transfer 60% of all funds from the Livrets A to the Caisse des dépôts. Prior to the decree, La Banque Postale was the only bank to transfer 100% of all funds from the Livret A to the Caisse des dépôts, while the

Groupe Caisse d'Épargne Groupe Caisse d'épargne was a French cooperative banking group, with around, 4700 branches in the country. Its origins go back to the founding in 1818 of the , France's first savings bank. The group was active in retail and private banking, as ...

transferred 80%. Commercial banks like the

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...

or the

Crédit Agricole Crédit Agricole Group (), sometimes called La banque verte ( en, The green bank) due to its historical ties to farming, is a French international banking group and the world's largest cooperative financial institution. It is France's second lar ...

only transferred between 20% and 30%. All French banks have by 2022 to transfer 60% to the Caisse des dépôts. Through the Caisse des dépôts, the funds are mostly used to build new social housing known as

HLM An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France. They are also used to pay back the Eurozone debt. They are also used to strengthen the collateral of French banks, and to give loans to French

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

and territorial entities (like towns, departments, etc.). Finally, the funds are invested in AAA and BBB-rated stocks and Treasury bonds. The remaining funds are used by banks to give loans to French

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

.

Recent years

The product was only offered by La Banque Postale and the

Groupe Caisse d'Épargne Groupe Caisse d'épargne was a French cooperative banking group, with around, 4700 branches in the country. Its origins go back to the founding in 1818 of the , France's first savings bank. The group was active in retail and private banking, as ...

as of 2008. Since January 2009, it has been offered by all French banks. As of 2015, only one account may be held by an individual, with an amount from 10 Euros to 22,950 Euros.Service Public: Épargne : livret A
/ref> During the

2012 French presidential election Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round Two-round system, run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territ ...

,

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

, who was elected as the President of France, announced his intention to raise the individual amount to 30,600 Euros to build 150,000 new

HLM An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France.Les HLM rappellent à l'ordre Hollande sur le doublement du plafond duLivret A
''

Challenges Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, C ...

'', July 16, 2012 In 2008, 46 million French citizens or residents owned a Livret A, for a total amount of 128,1 billion Euros in late 2007. As of January 2012, 60 million owned one, for a total amount of 220,8 billion Euros. The annual

rate of return In finance, return is a profit on an investment. It comprises any change in value of the investment, and/or cash flows (or securities, or other investments) which the investor receives from that investment, such as interest payments, coupons, ca ...

went down in recent years. In 2010, it has an annual rate of return of 4%. In January 2012, it had an annual

rate of return In finance, return is a profit on an investment. It comprises any change in value of the investment, and/or cash flows (or securities, or other investments) which the investor receives from that investment, such as interest payments, coupons, ca ...

of 2,25%. By 2015, it had fallen to 1%. By 2016, it had fallen to 0,75%. By 2020, it had fallen to 0,5%. On 1 February 2022, the rate was increased to 1% because of

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

. The rate doubled to 2% on 1 August 2022, its highest rate in nearly 10 years.

References

{{Reflist Banking in France 1818 establishments in France Aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars