UPDATE 1-Merged French bank BPCE to start operating August

* New bank to be called BPCE

* To be operational at start of August (Adds detail, background)

PARIS, June 24 (Reuters) - The new French bank formed from the state-led merger of Banque Populaire and Groupe Caisse d'Epargne will be called BPCE and will be operational at the start of August, its head said on Wednesday.

Francois Perol, who was drafted in by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said the new BPCE company would be operational on August 3.

The merger of the two companies, dogged by losses at their shared investment banking arm Natixis, will create France's second-biggest retail bank behind Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research).

BPCE will also have more branches than BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), France's biggest bank by market capitalisation, and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research).

When the two banks first announced their merger last year, they said the new group would have assets of 40 billion euros ($56.29 billion), revenues of 17.5 billion euros and a combined network of 8,200 bank branches.

BPCE will also have 480 billion euros of savings and deposits. France gave it a capital boost of up to 5 billion euros this year in return for a 20 percent stake. ($1=.7106 Euro)

(Reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by David Cowell)