• In its latest report published in November, Miviludes singled out anthroposophy, a current of thought suspected of sectarian excesses, stating that it exerted a "preponderant influence on certain ethical banking institutions", including the NEF.
  • Enough to revive the controversy in Lyon, where the municipality has subscribed a loan of 3 million euros from the establishment.
  • Four months later, the Bank of France was formal. It confirms, according to our information, that the Lyon structure has nothing to reproach itself.

Is the NEF, the first "ethical" bank in France the armed wing of anthroposophy, a movement of thought suspected of sectarian excesses? Or has she been wrongly accused, as she denies it?

The controversy came up again last November, when the Miviludes report devoted a chapter to anthroposophy was published, in which she wrote that the current "exerts a preponderant influence on certain ethical banking institutions with extremely important financial power". And to cite as an example the Nave, whose head office is in Vaulx-en-Velin. Founded by two followers of the anthroposophical movement, the structure prides itself on cultivating "total political, religious or philosophical independence".

In Lyon, where the municipality has subscribed a loan of 3 million euros from the establishment in 2021, the opposition quickly seized the subject. "I do not think that Lyonnais appreciate that public money continues to legitimize a bank under the influence of an esoteric and sectarian movement," tackled Ludovic Hernandez, of the group "For Lyon" to which former mayor Gérard Collomb belongs, forgetting in passing that the same Gérard Collomb had also used the NEF twice in 2012 and 2014.

All green criteria

Asked by the first deputy of the city of Lyon Audrey Henocque, eager for clarification, the Bank of France and the APCR (prudential control and resolution authority) provided, four months later, answers supposed to close the debate. According to our information, they indicated that there was "no problem" with the NEF, specifying that "all the criteria were green" and recalling that the establishment had "all the approvals since 1988". Nothing to report on the side of the financial criteria scrutinized.

The APCR, which is responsible for examining all bank loans to ensure that there is no financing of illegal structures, did not detect anything suspicious. "All members of governance are controlled. There are no problems with the members of the management board, "assured the Bank of France to the city of Lyon.

Accused of sectarian excesses in 1999 by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on Sects (ancestor of Miviludes), the NEF had filed a complaint for defamation and had won its case in court.

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