Crédit Agricole, the French bank, has reshuffled its top management to replace the head of its investment banking arm, Calyon, and joined the list of banks tapping shareholders for fresh funds to repair balance sheets ravaged by the credit crunch.

Marc Litzler is being replaced by Patrick Valroff, who runs the specialised financial services side. Mr Litzler came under pressure last September after Calyon announced an unauthorised trading loss. It had to book a €250 million charge relating to an unauthorised trading position at its New York subsidiary.

Crédit Agricole's net profits for the first quarter plunged 66 per cent to €892 million with corporate and investment banking sliding to a €795 million loss.

That business will undergo a 10 per cent cut in costs. Agricole chief financial officer Bertrand Badre declined to specify whether these cost-savings would entail job cuts, but one analyst said this was likely.

One source said: “They could close down part of their capital markets business.”

The bank plans to raise €5.9 billion through a rights issue. More than 50 per cent of this and any amount undersubscribed will be bought by its biggest shareholder.

An estimated €5 billion worth of non-core assets could also be up for sale.

Crédit Agricole declined to specify which of these might be sold. It has a stake of around 16 per cent in French investment company Eurazeo and a 5.6 per cent stake in Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo.

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