In the first step of a game of musical chairs for French board directorships, Paul-Louis Halley has replaced Daniel Lebegue as a director of Dexia, the Franco-Belgian crossborder bank.

Lebegue, who at the end of this year retires as the chairman of Caisses des Depots, the state-owned banking group, has stepped down from his role at Dexia in accordance with new rules that will ban directors from holding board positions on more than five quoted French companies. Lebegue is also on the management board of Thales, CNP and Gaz de France. Halley is currently a director at BNP Paribas and Carrefour.