ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the French model of shareholding and management, identifying a signifi cant transformation in the pattern of shareholding in the largest companies. In earlier confi gurations of ownership, fi rst the State and then the system of cross - shareholdings were at the centre of French capitalism; the new pattern of sharehold ing operates under a different logic and motivation. In effect, France has undergone rapid change from a ‘fi nancial network economy’ to a ‘fi nancial market economy’. This new pattern of shareholding has not only broken the traditional system of cross-shareholding, but it has also facilitated the arrival of foreign institutional investors who bring with them new techniques and demands on corporate management.
