Crédit Agricole has won approval today from Greece's Capital Markets Commission to launch a €3.1bn ($3.9bn) bid for Greek bank Emporiki, in a battle against a rival €3.8bn offer from the Bank of Cyprus.

Crédit Agricole said in a statement this afternoon it will start courting Emporiki shareholders from Tuesday with a cash proposal of €23.5 per share for 100% of the bank's stock.