Samruk-Kazyna enters into a long term partnership with France’s Caisse des Dépôts
29. Oct, 2010
By Alexia Wai-Chun Tye
Guest Contributor
During a visit of a high level presidential delegation in Paris on 27 October 2010, Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s Sovereign Wealth Fund signed a master contract with France’s Caisse des Dépôts. Caisse des Dépôts, the 51% controlling shareholder of the French sovereign wealth fund FSI, was represented by its CEO Augustin de Romanet, concurrently President of the Board of FSI. The cooperation contract covers infrastructure, financing of SMEs, innovation, sustainable cities, and more generally, long term investment strategies.[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]
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A frequently asked question concerns the financial resources of the FSI and its longer term future. With the double threat of new prudential regulations Basel III and Solvency II that will soon come into force, de Romanet sees a shrinking of the traditional sources of funding for fast-growing, innovative companies, acting alongside the FSI and CDC. In the medium term FSI will need further capital injections in order to ensure that promising French companies receive the support they need. In the shorter term, de Romanet sees the solution coming from long term international investors, including in particular sovereign wealth funds, co-investing alongside the FSI and its parent CDC. He also mentioned soliciting investors from Singapore, Malaysia and Kuwait. [Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. 
“Paris, 20 November 2008 – The President of the French Republic announced this morning in Montrichard the creation of a Strategic Investment Fund (SIF), which is intended to boost the equity and to stabilise the capital of French businesses. He has decided to entrust the management of this fund to Caisse des Dépôts. 
