French bank Crédit Agricole launched a program to cut its costs by sending members of its investment-banking unit a memo to reduce travel, lodging, meal expenditures.

The memo said that its employees could no longer take taxis during daytime in places like London, New York or Paris and when not attending to clients, restaurant bills should not cost any more than EUR25 a head in Paris. The memo went on to continue  that accommodation expenses should not exceed EUR165 a night in European areas and that flights going forward were now highly constrained.

"Anything above those spending limits will not be reimbursed or only exceptionally if the additional expenses can be duly justified, and are approved by the business division chief operating officer," read the memo which was only for Crédit Agricole employees. A copy, however, found its way to Wall Street Journal.

Distressed by several years of uncertainty, Europe's fifth-largest bank by assets talked about its plans of trimming costs and slowing down its investment bank operations as it wishes to return to its traditional beginnings, retail banking in France.