Objet: La Lettre, 31 August 2026: summary
Summary of La Lettre, 31 August 2026.
Casino versus Carrefour, latest legal round
Jean-Charles Naouri has filed a request with the investigating magistrates, dated 22 July and supplemented on 5 August, seeking the questioning of Carrefour chief executive Alexandre Bompard. His lawyers rely on more than 1,500 documents from the 2019 searches at Carrefour, Lazard and adviser Alain Minc, to which they gained access in mid-June. They argue the material evidences a 2018 takeover project on Casino, which Bompard denied under questioning in 2024. The documents point to 17 meetings in September 2018, eight of them attended by Bompard, the code name Crush appearing in 590 emails, and an email from Matthieu Pigasse to Lazard's leadership referring to a potential offer. No bid was ever filed. Naouri's objective is to overturn on appeal the misleading-information count on which he was convicted in January 2026.
Brussels
Benedikta von Seherr-Thoss, a former political adviser to Ursula von der Leyen and currently a managing director at the EEAS, is tipped to become deputy head of DG DEFIS. The move sits within a wider influence contest between the Commission and Kaja Kallas's diplomatic service.
Biotech
EuropaBio is lobbying ahead of the drug pricing agreements Donald Trump is due to sign on 31 August, based on most-favoured-nation pricing. The industry body fears for the financial stability of smaller European firms and for R&D funding.
Banking and AI
BPCE is setting up an AI Factory, to be operational by year end, under Yves Tyrode and with Boston Consulting Group support. Half of the group's 100,000 staff already use generative AI tools. Its suppliers are OpenAI, Mistral AI, Gemini and Anthropic.
Separately, André Citroën's grandson is running a short campaign, backed by a business-heavy support committee, to have the carmaker's founder interred in the Panthéon before October. The Élysée is holding back.