Unpromising results for French banks in 2014. The results of the French banks for the year 2014 are fairly unpromising, with interest rates, inflation and growth converging at around zero. The context of low rates in 2014 weighed upon the margin of the banking networks and affected the revenue of the French banks. For instance, Crédit Agricole Nord de France saw its intermediation margin fall by 4.8% last year. The drop in rates is expected to continue in 2015. Last year, the banks also suffered from the cap on their intervention commissions (charges for payments taken from clients' accounts when the funds in them were insufficient). On the other hand, the volume of loans to business was up slightly towards the end of the year. The rate of loans to non-financial companies grew by 2.2% in December 2014, according to the Banque de France. 2014 also saw the Ukrainian crisis, which negatively affected the activities of BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole in the country. (Isabelle Lamberty)