BOQ a Populaire investment

Banque Populaire, a French banking group owned by 21 cooperative banks, yesterday emerged as the owner of a 6.4 per cent stake in Bank of Queensland.

The bank first began to buy shares in BOQ in November. BOQ's management first made contact with the French bank in December.

The intentions of Banque Populaire are not clear at this stage and do not appear to be hostile. Whether the intention is to buy to a ceiling of 10 per cent (the usual bank shareholding limit), 15 per cent (with permission of the Treasurer) or to something else isn't clear at this stage.

For Banque Populaire the investment may have a longer-term strategic rationale. The bank considers its growth strategy at home constrained by the present structure of the retail banking market in France.

Somewhat obscure foreign banks have held significant stakes in Bank of Queensland in the past. Bank of Hawaii was a prominent shareholder for some years in the 1990s until an ill-defined Pacific strategy faded away.