Could the state-owned newcomer on the French banking block turn out to be the proverbial white knight coming to the rescue of Société Générale?

Launched barely two years ago, the Banque Postale - the new banking subsidiary of the French post office - has been actively looking for partners to help it become a fully-fledged retail bank and in due course be partially privatised. And by an odd coincidence, only a couple of weeks ago it forged its first partnership with a big French commercial bank forming a joint electronic payments venture with none other than SocGen.