Crédit Agricole was on Friday on course for a showdown with BNP Paribas, its biggest French banking rival, after it lined up advisers for a possible approach for Société Générale, a day after BNP declared its interest in a takeover.

A French bid for SocGen is seen as the most likely outcome after President Nicolas Sarkozy said approaches from foreign banks were not welcome in the wake of SocGen’s €5bn ($7.4bn) rogue trading scandal.