The post-war situation

After the war, the Caisses d’Epargne realised that they could play a new role in financing local institutions and authorities. Two fundamental factors contributed to this awareness:

• the reconstruction required a great deal of funds. However, deposits in the Caisses d'Epargne were still held by the Caisse des Dépôts.
• The Alsace and Moselle Caisses had been set up again in French territory after the war ended. However, they still benefited from a system of free use of funds. They could thus freely lend part of their deposits to local institutions and authorities.

In 1947, the various institutional levels of the Caisses d’Epargne proposed extending the system used by the Caisses d’Alsace Moselle to the rest of the country. Deputy Jean Minjoz advocated the project in the National Assembly

 

The Minjoz Act 
    
When he joined the Board of Directors of the Caisse d'Epargne in Besançon in 1946, Jean Minjoz became aware of the Caisses d'Epargne’s problems. As the deputy for Doubs, he spearheaded legislative changes at the end of 1947 based on the work performed by the Caisses d’ Epargne. Other deputies started pushing for the changes too. Difficult negotiations commenced between the Caisses d’Epargne, the deputy Jean Minjoz, the Ministry of Finance and the Caisse des Dépôts. The Caisses d’Epargne finally accepted the amendment to the original draft. Both legislative assemblies voted on the amended draft of the bill in May 1950. The “Minjoz Act” was enacted on June 24, 1950.This law entitled the Caisses d’Epargne to present borrowers to the Caisse de Dépôts et Consignations, which continued to hold responsibility for banking commitments.