The law which reformed the savings banks in 19833 finally allowed them to carry out all banking busi- ness for private individuals, but the corporate client business continued to be closed to them. Furthermore, the law annulled the legal form, in force since 1835 for the savings banks, of charitable bodies (in private law); they now acquired the legal form, hitherto unknown in France, of non profit- making financial institutions. With this step, the legislators made allowance for the fact that the savings banks had no profit-seeking shareholders who had to be paid interest from their annual sur- plus; rather, their operating result merely had to ensure the continued existence of the savings banks. Numerous.
