City Profile: Spotlight on Paris

Since the Battle of Agincourt the French have held a deep-seated mistrust of things Anglo-Saxon. But times are beginning to change. With an ever-growing awareness of the need to compete in international capital markets, a New Realism is taking hold of the collective psyche of France's hitherto inward looking financial community. From the end of World War II, French economic policy has been characterised by central economic planning minimising the use of equity as a source of finance. That