Nicolas Théry, Chairman of Crédit Mutuel, Europe’s ninth-biggest banking group, has enjoyed a unique career. A graduate of France’s École Nationale d’Administration, he spent the first part of his working life in the civil service in the Inspectorate of Finances and the Treasury. As a senior civil servant in the finance ministry, he was an advisor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Minister of the Economy and Finance, and then chief of staff to the Budget Secretary, Florence Parly.