French finance ministry's chief of staff, Stephane Richard, will join top management at France Telecom SA (FTE) during the second half of this year, and is tipped to replace Chief Executive Didier Lombard when his term ends in 2011.

"Didier Lombard confirms that a procedure has been started to allow Stephane Richard to join the group's top management committee in the course of the second half 2009," a spokesman for the French telecommunications giant told Dow Jones Newswires. Didier Lombard is very happy about this prospect, the spokesman added.

A senior government official told Dow Jones Newswires late Wednesday Richard could leave the government as early as mid June and join the French telecommunications giant in an initial role as early as September.

French Business daily Les Echos late Wednesday reported Richard will take over from Lombard in 2011. It said the appointment was forced through by the government, which holds a 26.7% of the former state telecommunications monopoly.

According to the report, Richard will first take charge of the group's international operations, the equivalent of second in command of the entire company, at the start of next year.

Richard, a wealthy former businessman who is said to be close to French president Nicolas Sarkozy, would be the second high-ranking government official to be shifted to head a major French institution in the past few months.

Sarkozy's former top economic and financial adviser Francois Perol has been appointed head of the giant French mutual bank formed by the merger of mutuals Caisse d'Epargne and Banque Populaire earlier this year.

The government and Perol have come under public scrutiny because French law restricts moves by government officials directly into private companies which the official has previously dealt with in a public capacity.

The French ethics council, which vets moves of government officials into top jobs in private industry, will hear Richard Wednesday, Les Echos said.

A person close to senior government told Dow Jones Newswires Richard's appointment will be approved by the ethics council.

Company Web site: www.francetelecom.com

-By Ruth Bender, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 40 17 17 40; ruth.bender@dowjones.com

(Geraldine Amiel and Art Mooradian in Paris contributed to this report.)