FRANCE - Crédit Agricole and Société Générale today announced Amundi as the name for their soon to be merged asset management arms.

However, questions still remain over open posts at Amundi. with only the CEO confirmed so far. Other vacancies, such as that of CIO, will be filled over the next few months, but with no announcements expected until next year according to a Société Générale spokesman.

The merger, which was first rumored in January this year and formally agreed in July, has so far been agreed to by the French supervisory authorities Authorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and Comité des Etablissements de Crédit et des Enterprises d'Investissement (CECEI). (See earlier IPE article: SocGen further dismantles asset management)

The European Competition Authority has yet give its blessing but the merger is intended to take effect from 1 January next year.

"Our aim is to make Amundi a key player in the European asset management industry," said the company's incoming CEO Yves Perrier, who is currently the chairman and CEO of Crédit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM).

CAAM is already the largest manager of European institutional assets according to IPE's Top 400 Asset Managers 2009, with some €325bn under management. SocGen Asset Management was the ninth largest with €114bn in European institutional AUM.

The name Amundi was said to evoke the group's European heritage.