Natixis, the troubled French investment bank, has been thrown a lifeline by its parent company BPCE that could help it avoid government aid and pave the way for its long-overdue restructuring.

BPCE, the newly created retail banking group formed from the merger of Natixis’s two largest shareholders, will ringfence and guarantee billions of euros of toxic assets at Natixis – meaning French taxpayers are likely to avoid footing the bill for a state-sponsored guarantee.