Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien
Encyclopedia
Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien (BFCOI) is a French bank that since 2003 has been jointly owned by Mauritius Commercial Bank
and Société Générale
. It has its headquarters in Saint Denis
, Réunion
. It has more than 360 employees and more than 80 000 clients in its operations in Réunion (13 branches), Mayotte
(three branches), and Paris (one branch), which primarily engages in private banking.
, Banque Lazard and the Chinese government established the Banque Franco-Chinoise pour le Commerce et l’Industrie (BFCCI) to take over the assets of the Banque Industrielle de Chine (est. 1913). The Bank established offices in Peking
, Shanghai
and Teinstsin
. It also established offices in North Vietnam (Hanoi
and Haiphong
), in Central Vietnam (Vinh
, Huë
, Tourane (Da Nang)
and Qui Nhơn
), South Vietnam (Saigon
), and Cambodia (Phnom Penh
). By 1939, only the Hanoi, Saigon and Phnom Penh branches remained in French Indochina
. At the same time, the bank had three offices in France (Paris, Lyon
and Marseille
).
, BFCCI closed its offices in North Vietnam. However, the bank started to expand in South Vietnam and Cambodia. The next year, BFCCI finally left China, its branches having been inoperative for some time.
In 1960, the Banque de l'Indochine
purchase the shares in BFCCI that Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas and Banque Lazard had held. In 1963, Prince Sihanouk nationalized the banking sector in Cambodia
, though BFCCI was allowed to retain a representative office. (In 1975, during the terror launched by the Khmer Rouge
, the representative — an ethnic Chinese — and his family all disappeared.) In 1964, BFCCI changed its name to Banque Française pour le Commerce. The next year, the government of South Vietnam
wished to create a domestic bank sector. BFC participated in the creation of Banque pour le Commerce, l'Industrie et l'Agriculture (BCIA) — Nong Cong Thuong Ngan Hang in Vietnamese — under the control of a young South Vietnamese seconded from BFC.
A change in French law in 1967 liberalized branching, enabling BFC to increase the number of its branches in France. The next year, BFC changed its name to Banque Française Commerciale.
Political turmoil cost BFC several operations in 1975. The operations in Madagascar had been satisfactory until political turmoil commenced in 1972. Then in 1975, the Malagasy Republic nationalized its branches there and transferred them to the Banque Financiere et Commerciale Malagache. Also, the fall of Saigon reduced the BFC Group in Vietnam to inactivity. The authorities liquidated the bank and seized its assets; the expatriate staff returned to France.
BFC decided to transfer its operations in the Indian Ocean
and in 1976, established a branch in Réunion
. BFC also established operations in Mayotte
at the request of the French Government after the island lost all banking services when it split from the Comoros
and voted to stay linked to France. BFC also acquired Banque Antillaise and opened a branch in French Guyana. Two years later, BFCOI opened a branch in the Seychelles
. The next year, BFC absorbed Banque Antillaise, together with its branches in French Guyana (2), Guadeloupe (7), and Martinique (3), and established a branch in Dominica.
Banque Indosuez sold a majority position (66.66%) in BFCOI to Mauritius Commercial Bank
(MCB) in 1996; Banque Indosuez retained 22.22%. The next year, BFCOI opened a branch in Paris. In 1997, BFCOI opened a representative office in Mozambique
.
In 2000, MCB acquired the minority stake Crédit Agricole Indosuez
held in BFCOI, increasing its stake to 88.88%. This followed the takeover of Banque Indosuez by the Crédit Agricole Group, which itself had operations in both Reunion and Mayotte in direct competition with BFCOI. BFCOI became the representative of Banque Fédérale Mutualiste in the Indian Ocean region.
, establishing joint (50:50) ownership of BFCOI. However, BFCOI's Seychelles operations fell outside the scope of the agreement. Instead, MCB incorporated a new fully owned subsidiary, The Mauritius Commercial Bank (Seychelles), trading under the name of MCB Seychelles, to take over the assets and liabilities of the Seychelles based banking network of BFCOI.
Mauritius Commercial Bank
Mauritius Commercial Bank , founded in 1838, is the oldest and largest banking institution of Mauritius. It is also the oldest banking institution south of the Sahara and one of the oldest banks of the Commonwealth to have preserved its original name...
and Société Générale
Société Générale
Société Générale S.A. is a large European Bank and a major Financial Services company that has a substantial global presence. Its registered office is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, while its head office is in the Tours Société Générale in the business district of La...
. It has its headquarters in Saint Denis
Saint-Denis, Réunion
Saint-Denis is the préfecture of the French overseas region and department of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. It is located at the island's northernmost point, close to the mouth of the Rivière Saint-Denis....
, Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
. It has more than 360 employees and more than 80 000 clients in its operations in Réunion (13 branches), Mayotte
Mayotte
Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...
(three branches), and Paris (one branch), which primarily engages in private banking.
History
In 1925, Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, Banque de l'IndochineBanque de l'Indochine
The Banque de l'Indochine was a minting and banknote-issuing bank established in Paris on January 21, 1875, for the territories of France in Asia.-History:...
, Banque Lazard and the Chinese government established the Banque Franco-Chinoise pour le Commerce et l’Industrie (BFCCI) to take over the assets of the Banque Industrielle de Chine (est. 1913). The Bank established offices in Peking
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Teinstsin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
. It also established offices in North Vietnam (Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
and Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...
), in Central Vietnam (Vinh
Vinh
Vinh is a city in Vietnam. It is located in the northern half of the country, and is the capital of Nghệ An Province. Politically, Vinh is a municipality within Nghệ An Province. On September 5th, 2008, it was upgraded from Grade-II city to Grade-I city, the fourth Grade-I city of Vietnam after...
, Huë
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
, Tourane (Da Nang)
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
and Qui Nhơn
Qui Nhon
Qui Nhơn , also Quy Nhơn, is a coastal city in Binh Dinh province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of 286 km². Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2009 its population was 280,900. Historically, the commercial activities of the city...
), South Vietnam (Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
), and Cambodia (Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
). By 1939, only the Hanoi, Saigon and Phnom Penh branches remained in French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
. At the same time, the bank had three offices in France (Paris, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
).
After World War II
In 1951, concerned about its geographical concentration in the high-risk region of Indochina, BFCCI sought to diversify by establishing branches in Madagascar. After the French defeat in 1954 at Diên Biên PhuDien Bien Phu
Điện Biên Phủ is a city in northwestern Vietnam. It is the capital of Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the First Indochina War, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, during which the region was a breadbasket for the Việt Minh.-Population:...
, BFCCI closed its offices in North Vietnam. However, the bank started to expand in South Vietnam and Cambodia. The next year, BFCCI finally left China, its branches having been inoperative for some time.
In 1960, the Banque de l'Indochine
Banque de l'Indochine
The Banque de l'Indochine was a minting and banknote-issuing bank established in Paris on January 21, 1875, for the territories of France in Asia.-History:...
purchase the shares in BFCCI that Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas and Banque Lazard had held. In 1963, Prince Sihanouk nationalized the banking sector in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, though BFCCI was allowed to retain a representative office. (In 1975, during the terror launched by the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
, the representative — an ethnic Chinese — and his family all disappeared.) In 1964, BFCCI changed its name to Banque Française pour le Commerce. The next year, the government of South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
wished to create a domestic bank sector. BFC participated in the creation of Banque pour le Commerce, l'Industrie et l'Agriculture (BCIA) — Nong Cong Thuong Ngan Hang in Vietnamese — under the control of a young South Vietnamese seconded from BFC.
A change in French law in 1967 liberalized branching, enabling BFC to increase the number of its branches in France. The next year, BFC changed its name to Banque Française Commerciale.
Political turmoil cost BFC several operations in 1975. The operations in Madagascar had been satisfactory until political turmoil commenced in 1972. Then in 1975, the Malagasy Republic nationalized its branches there and transferred them to the Banque Financiere et Commerciale Malagache. Also, the fall of Saigon reduced the BFC Group in Vietnam to inactivity. The authorities liquidated the bank and seized its assets; the expatriate staff returned to France.
BFC decided to transfer its operations in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
and in 1976, established a branch in Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
. BFC also established operations in Mayotte
Mayotte
Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...
at the request of the French Government after the island lost all banking services when it split from the Comoros
Comoros
The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar...
and voted to stay linked to France. BFC also acquired Banque Antillaise and opened a branch in French Guyana. Two years later, BFCOI opened a branch in the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
. The next year, BFC absorbed Banque Antillaise, together with its branches in French Guyana (2), Guadeloupe (7), and Martinique (3), and established a branch in Dominica.
Creation of Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien
In 1984, BFC restructured itself as a holding company. It established three legally and operationally distinct companies: Banque Française Commerciale en France Métropolitaine (BFC) to hold the branches in France, Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien (BFCOI) to hold the branches in Reunion, Mayotte and the Seychelles, and Banque Française Commerciale Antilles-Guyane (BFCAG) to take over the branches in French Guyana and the Antilles. Banque Indosuez owned the entire share capital of all three entities. The next year, Compagnie Lyonnaise de Financement Immobiliere acquired BFC's branches in France.Banque Indosuez sold a majority position (66.66%) in BFCOI to Mauritius Commercial Bank
Mauritius Commercial Bank
Mauritius Commercial Bank , founded in 1838, is the oldest and largest banking institution of Mauritius. It is also the oldest banking institution south of the Sahara and one of the oldest banks of the Commonwealth to have preserved its original name...
(MCB) in 1996; Banque Indosuez retained 22.22%. The next year, BFCOI opened a branch in Paris. In 1997, BFCOI opened a representative office in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
.
In 2000, MCB acquired the minority stake Crédit Agricole Indosuez
Crédit Agricole
Crédit Agricole S.A. is the largest retail banking group in France, second largest in Europe and the eighth largest in the world by Tier 1 capital according to The Banker magazine. It is also part of the CAC 40 stock market index....
held in BFCOI, increasing its stake to 88.88%. This followed the takeover of Banque Indosuez by the Crédit Agricole Group, which itself had operations in both Reunion and Mayotte in direct competition with BFCOI. BFCOI became the representative of Banque Fédérale Mutualiste in the Indian Ocean region.
Join venture
In early 2003, the Bank finalized an agreement with Société GénéraleSociété Générale
Société Générale S.A. is a large European Bank and a major Financial Services company that has a substantial global presence. Its registered office is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, while its head office is in the Tours Société Générale in the business district of La...
, establishing joint (50:50) ownership of BFCOI. However, BFCOI's Seychelles operations fell outside the scope of the agreement. Instead, MCB incorporated a new fully owned subsidiary, The Mauritius Commercial Bank (Seychelles), trading under the name of MCB Seychelles, to take over the assets and liabilities of the Seychelles based banking network of BFCOI.