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Deep Dive | France
How the DGSE secret war chest nearly became a CIA-styled investment fund

By Antoine Izambard and Franck Renaud

Published on 07.01.2026 at 05:00 GMT Reading time 3 min

The DGSE's cursed treasure (3/4) – A fund set up in the wake of the two world wars, to finance a government in exile if France were again occupied, eventually became a curse. This third episode looks back at how the service almost turned its war chest into an investment fund.

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Set up in the wake of the two world wars with the aim of financing a French government in exile should the country suffer a collapse similar to that of 1940, the hidden fund of France's DGSE foreign intelligence service eventually became a curse. Intelligence Online lifts the veil on one of the French Republic's best-kept secrets.

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Deep Dive | France
How the DGSE secret war chest nearly became a CIA-styled investment fund