Team

Nicolas Mérindol set up the new financial M&A advisory firm Carmin Finance in November 2014 with the aim of giving a voice back to the real economy, industry and services, thanks to the banker-advisor’s close relationship with his client.

Background and references

Born in 1961, a graduate of the Institut de Gestion (ISG) and a chartered accountant, he began his career in the Finance Department of the Renault group in France and Argentina from 1984 to 1987.
He then moved to Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), before joining Groupe Caisse d’Epargne. After several years in the field at the Caisse d’Epargne de Picardie, he became Chief Financial Officer at national level in 1996, then Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Caisse d’Epargne in September 2006.

As the youngest CEO of a major international generalist bank, he played a part in the Group’s development and modernisation, both in terms of products (the first savings leader to offer the sustainable development account) and institutions, with the 1999 law reforming the Caisses d’Epargne. As Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, Nicolas Mérindol has held a number of positions in banking, insurance and services:

• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Crédit Foncier de France
• Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Banque Palatine
• Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Gestrim4
• Chairman of the Supervisory Board of La Compagnie 1818 banquiers privés
• Chairman of GCE Capital (Risk capital)
• Member of the Board of Directors of CNP Assurances
• Member of the Supervisory Board of Natixis (Investment Bank)
• Member of the Board of Directors of Nexity (Real Estate)
• Member of the Board of Coface (Credit Insurance)

In 2007, he launched a sustainable development programme for Groupe Caisse d’Epargne called “Bénéfices Futurs”, aimed at rating all products according to 3 criteria: safety, responsibility and climate. In the social sphere, he worked alongside the Group’s federation to promote a scheme to combat exclusion from the banking system, with the launch of Parcours Confiance.

During this period, he also held a number of senior positions in France and abroad, including :

• Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Depositors’ Guarantee Fund
• Chairman of the European Banking Committee (EBIC)
• Director of Banca Carige (Italy)

Reform, rationalisation and innovation, while respecting our founding values, have been the watchwords guiding his actions.
He left the Group in 2008 to join the Banca Leonardo Group (lnvestment Bank) as its representative in France, and developed his company advisory and support business by acquiring stakes in recognised experts: Equitis (the leading independent trust company in France) and Amilton Partners (shareholder in Amilton Asset Management*, a benchmark in European listed small caps in particular). In 2014, he and his partners set up the Carmin Group, a new financial player whose distinctive model is to combine advisory banking with expert services for clients, in which the Group acquires stakes: BDO Real Estate. These include BDO Real Estate, an audit firm specialising in monitoring for institutional real estate investors; Delff, a debt fund management company*; 4TPM, a publisher of IT solutions for banks*; equityStories, a financial communications consultancy; and Investance Partners, a consulting firm dedicated to financial institutions. These are all high-level areas of expertise operating in ‘niches’ that have made these companies recognised players in the market. The Carmin Group also includes Polymont Engineering, an industrial engineering consultancy.

From December 2012 to December 2015, he was also Chairman of Constructa Asset Management, France’s leading independent asset management company. The company manages assets worth more than €7.3 billion, representing a surface area of 2 million m2. It manages 170 buildings, including several towers at La Défense.

Directorships

• Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of XL Airways until 2018
• Membre du Conseil d’AdminisMember of the Board of Directors of the Centre France press group, which publishes La Montagne in particular
• Chairman of CFLM Holding

Civic commitment

Nicolas Mérindol was a consular judge at the Bobigny Commercial Court and has been a consular judge at the Marseille Commercial Court since 2020.

Social commitment

As part of his responsibilities at Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, he has led a unique sustainable development programme aimed at rating all the Group’s products according to three criteria: safety, responsibility and climate.

In the social sphere, he has worked alongside the Groupe Caisses d’Epargne federation to promote a scheme to combat exclusion from the banking system, with the launch of Parcours Confiance. Nicolas Mérindol has also been active in a number of bodies as part of his social commitments:

• Member of the Social Cohesion Fund Committee
• Member of the National Sustainable Development Committee
• Member of the Vigeo Board of Directors
• Nicolas Mérindol teaches financial mathematics and finance at ESCAE (Sup de Co Amiens) and is also a Master 2 lecturer at the University of Aix-Marseille.

Awards

Nicolas Mérindol has been a Knight of the Legion of Honour since 31 December 2015 and has also been awarded the Moroccan Order of Ouissam El Alaouite.
From 2009 to 2014, he was the French President of AMREF Flying Doctors, Africa’s largest humanitarian health and medical research NGO. In July 2015, he was appointed to the Steering Committee of the Africa France Foundation (Finance cluster), chaired by Gérard Mestrallet.
He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Hôpital Foch.

(* Companies which have left the Group).