The Banque d'Outremer (lit. 'Bank of Overseas'), initially known as the Compagnie Internationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (CICI) was a Belgian financial institution, established in 1899 in the context of the exploitation of the Congo Free State, and eventually merged into the Société Générale de Belgique in 1928.
Despite its name, the Banque d'Outremer acted mostly as an investment company that invested into projects in Congo but also Canada, China, the Dutch East Indies, and Russia.[1]
Overview edit
Following King Leopold II's creation of the Congo Free State in 1885, his colonial secretary Albert Thys in 1886 formed the Compagnie du Congo pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (CCCI) to exploit the territory's resources. On 7 January 1899, on Thys's initiative, the CICI was formed in Brussels; its founding shareholders were the Société Générale de Belgique (SGB, 14.5 percent), Banque Lambert (7.4 percent), Banque de Bruxelles (4 percent), as well as groups of French investors led by the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, German investors led by Deutsche Bank, and British investors led by the Stern Brothers, Ernest Cassel, and Vincent Caillard. Because of frequent confusion between CCCI and CICI, the latter soon changed its name to Banque d'Outremer.[1]: II
The chairman was initially the SGB's Joseph Devolder, while Thys was managing director. Thys subsequently took over the chairmanship in 1911, while Émile Francqui became managing director, a position he only held until 1913. Thys himself died unexpectedly in 1915, upon which Francqui returned as acting chairman.[1]: III
In 1909, the Banque d'Outremer was a founding shareholder of the Banque du Congo Belge.
Under the German occupation of Belgium during World War I, the Banque d'Outremer was placed under tight oversight of German commissioners, and underwent financial restructuring in 1916.[1]: IV In 1919, Francqui fostered a strategic agreement between the Banque d'Outremer and the SGB that led to the departure of Albert Thys's son William, who went on to lead the Banque de Bruxelles.[1]: VI
By the mid-1920s, the Banque d'Outremer held significant equity stakes in the Banque du Congo Belge and its commercial banking affiliate the Banque Commerciale du Congo, the Banque Belge pour l'Étranger, the Bank of Flanders, and the Caisse Générale de Reports et de Dépôts, as well as numerous industrial, mining and infrastructure companies in multiple countries.[1]: VI
The SGB eventually absorbed the Banque d'Outremer through an all-shares merger in February 1928, further cementing its dominant position in the economy of Belgium and of its African colonies.[1]: VII
Head office edit
The Banque d'Outremer was located on rue de Namur 48 in Brussels, in the same urban block as the CCCI, not far from the Royal Palace of Brussels and its annex the so-called Norwegian chalet that hosted the Free State's offices.[2] The property was rebuilt on a 1916 design by architect Jules Brunfaut.[3] By the late 2000s it was rented by the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs.[4] More recently it has become the Brussels Campus of United Business Institutes.[5]
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ a b c d e f g René Brion and Jean-Louis Moreau (October 2008), Banque d'Outremer (Compagnie Internationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie) S.A. (PDF), BNP Paribas Fortis Historical Centre and Association pour la Valorisation des Archives d'Entreprises asbl / Vereniging voor de Valorisatie van Bedrijfsarchieven vzw
- ^ "Chalet Norvégien / Chalet Suisse". Région de Bruxelles-Capitale / Inventaire du Patrimoine Architectural.
- ^ "Anc. Banque d'Outremer / Banque Congo Belge". Région de Bruxelles-Capitale / Inventaire du Patrimoine Architectural.
- ^ Activity Report 2009 (PDF), Kingdom of Belgium - Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Dezvelopment Cooperation, p. 10
- ^ "Brussels Campus". UBI Business School.