The battle for early control of the European market for managing new equity issues online stepped up a gear last week with the launch of an online investment bank in France and a new injection of capital into epo.com, the Swedish-owned firm, which is rolling out across Europe.

Spearheading the French launch of EuropeOffering.com is Didier Duhem, an ex-Crédit Lyonnais broker and, most recently, head of new issues at Spef Technologies, a division of Natexis Banque Populaire.