Pascal Poupelle began his professional life in the French administration, where he was closely involved in the development of Airbus Industrie and the European civil aviation industry. At Crédit Lyonnais, he managed the aircraft financing business in Paris for four years and then spent seven years in New York, where he developed the trading activities and managed the broker-dealer, before managing all Crédit Lyonnais activities in the United States. He joined the Executive Committee of Crédit Lyonnais in 2001 as Global Head of CIB Client Relations and then participated in the creation of Calyon. He was Deputy Chief Executive Officer when he joined Dexia in 2008 as part of the rescue plan: he was for two years Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dexia Crédit local. In 2011, Pascal Poupelle took responsibility for the activities of the Royal Bank of Scotland in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique, he was Chief Engineer of the Civil Aviation and is a former auditor of the IHEDN.