The French finance ministry's chief of staff, Stephane Richard, will head up the country's telecommunications giant France Telecom SA (FTE) in 2011, a senior government official told Dow Jones Newswires late Wednesday.

Richard would succeed France Telecom's 67-year-old CEO, Didier Lombard, whose mandate will come to an end in 2011. Richard's appointment already has been approved by the country's ethics board that vets moves of government officials into top jobs in private industry, the senior source said.

France Telecom declined to comment.

French Business daily Les Echos reported on its Web site that Richard's appointment was forced through by the government, which holds a sizable minority stake in the former State telecommunications monopoly.

Richard would be the second high-ranking government official to be shifted to head a major French institution in the past few months.

Sarkozy's senior advisor, Francois Perol, was appointed head of the giant French mutual bank to be formed by the merger of mutuals Caisse d'Epargne and Banque Populaire.

-By Geraldine Amiel and A.H. Mooradian; Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1740; geraldine.amiel@dowjones.com and art.mooradian@dowjones.com.