BRED Banque Populaire, part of the second largest banking group in France, officially launched operations in Cambodia yesterday, marking the first venture of a European bank in the Kingdom since the late 1990s. BRED Bank (Cambodia) Plc, which has $30mn in paid-up capital, will offer tailor-made products geared for the country’s fast-growing economy, its CEO Perdon Guillaume said in a press release. Although the bank will now have to compete within Cambodia’s crowded banking sector, which had 37 commercial banks and 15 specialized bank as of end-2016, Guillaume said BRED Bank Cambodia has a different approach and could work around common customer complaints such as the requirements of large collateral or loan requests taking too long.  BRED Banque Populair, part of the BPCE Group, currently owns a 12.25% stake in Acleda Bank, the Kingdom’s largest financial institution in terms of assets, through its subsidiary COFIBRED. (Source: Phnom Penh Post, Khmer Times)