Asia is therefore an environment preferred

Why initiated a reform of governance in AXA

When the question of the estate of Claude Bébéar officially arose, in February 2008, my first reaction, as a member of the Council, was to propose that Henri de Castries was named CEO. I him I had indeed actually share. But at the time, the company was likely not ready for such a development, and Henri himself was not in favour. Today, it is what appears to be the most effective, which will allow better understanding shareholders to conduct operations. Prior to the renewal of my mandate, the General Assembly and of the Council of last April, I have therefore written to all members of the Supervisory Board to share my analysis of the governance of AXA. The work was from the months of April and formalized at the Council of supervision of yesterday. This was the right time, since the mandate of the members of the Executive Board was due.

Was there urgency

With the financial crisis, become economic crisis, a large number of people have seen their situation affected by the decisions of a small number. It preferred the ethics of the rules and not the ethics of virtue, protecting behind the veil of what was permissible, forgetting what was good. The context seems therefore timely to ask questions of governance. It's going to happen in AXA happening everywhere when the evolution of modes of operation is done in a serene environment, without mandatory estate (neither Henry nor I are struck by the age limit): collateral benefits go much more beyond what you think. I am convinced that this will make AXA more efficient.

What the Board of Directors structure you think it more appropriate today

Intuitively, I am more comfortable with the structure Board of Directors, effective in Bourbon, group which I am President and CEO. Administrators are responsibility of the decisions of the company. This requires the availability and commitment. The dual system is neither clear nor very empowering: the Supervisory Board is responsible for the General Assembly, but its power is to give an opinion on the report of the Executive Board. Between disallowance or complacency, there better be.

The fact that Henri de Castries is taken to carry out the duties of President and CEO may give rise to a number of interpretations...

Henri has any legitimacy to be CEO, I have no vocation to be the President of the Board of Directors. We didn't not an unrealistic balance of power. It seems to me preferable that the Presidency and the Directorate-General are concentrated on the person who think, highlights the oe work and is the spokesperson for the company's strategy. The overlapping of mandates, it is not full powers, but the full responsibility. This is very different. In other words, I prefer a team whose coach is on the ground.

What balance you make of your chairmanship of the Supervisory Board

After two years of strong commitment and close work and perfect transparency with Henri de Castries, I have the sense of having fulfilled my mission. I am candidate for administrator, and I assume if any this co-responsibility with much pleasure and desire. I was first attached to clarify the specificities of insurance, which is a more accessible trade that it seems. I have encouraged the establishment of a system of simple information on the follow-up of cases and the strategy. At my initiative, we reviewed in detail with the Executive Board the positioning of AXA in its various markets. Finally, we have - quite - crossed together a very important financial crisis. I have a different environment, by my temperament, the family character of Bourbon and our active portfolio management strategy, sometimes the very opposite of AXA, whose size and activity required a strategy centred on his trades! I hope that the clash of cultures between two persons of the same age has been profitable for the group. It certainly was for me.

Will your tropism for Asia leave traces

The crisis will serve as an accelerator to trends that already existed. And these acceleration phases are a good time to refresh the policy. To create the value in the long run, what matters is growth. But AXA is located in the double situation to be one of the leaders of the insurance, and operate on trades, where, except new needs such as, growth should be the economy. Today, one of the levers for AXA is to take in countries market share growth. Asia is therefore an environment preferred.