…members of ethnic minorities…are still a rare sight in [French] management positions and higher-profile jobs that routinely bring them into contact with customers. But now something is happening in the whitest of white-collar sectors: the largest banks and insurers in France appear to be spearheading efforts in the country to diversify their work forces by tapping into a growing pool of educated second-generation immigrants...BNP Paribas, the largest French lender, has made it a rule to have members of ethnic minority groups in every recruitment ad it publishes, and AXA, the financial services giant, allows job applicants to have their résumés reviewed without their names or photographs...As Michel Pébereau, chairman of BNP Paribas, put it, "Our business is to serve people, and to do this well, it is necessary that the composition of our work force reflect that of the society in which we live." [also refers to Société Générale, Adecco]