But she denied that Natixis was planning to close down its Tokyo offices altogether as reported in the French economy daily La Tribune on Saturday.

'We will not close our Toyko operations but we explained on December 18 that we would end our activity in complex markets,' she told AFP.

'We will remain active on the shares markets in Japan, which requires a local presence.'

The bank plans to cut its staffing in Tokyo by 85 per cent from around 100 to 15, 'bearing in mind that some employees will be transferred to other offices.'

La Tribune quoted various sources as saying Natixis would close its Tokyo offices by May and that Hong Kong would take over responsibility for the group's activities in Japan.

Natixis announced earlier this month that it stood to lose up to 450 million euros (S$876 million) in 'indirect exposure' to the scandal surrounding New York investment manager Bernard Madoff. -- AFP