Crédit Foncier d'Algérie et de Tunisie

The Crédit Foncier d'Algérie et de Tunisie (, lit. 'Land Credit [Bank] of Algeria and Tunisia', abbr. CFAT) was a French colonial bank. It was originally founded in 1880 as the Crédit Foncier et Agricole d'Algérie (CFAA, lit. 'Land and Agricultural Credit [Bank] of Algeria'), an Algerian affiliate of Crédit Foncier de France, and took its name CFAT in 1909 following expansion to Tunisia. In 1963, following Algerian independence, it renamed itself as Société Centrale de Banque (SCDB). It was acquired by Société Générale in 1971 and eventually absorbed by it in 1997. Its former overseas operations have become part of Banque Nationale d'Algérie in Algeria, Amen Bank in Tunisia, Société Générale in Morocco, and Fransabank in Lebanon.

Colonial era

Paris-based Crédit Foncier de France was allowed in 1860 to expand its agricultural mortgage operations into French Algeria, but did not follow suit aggressively because of the already established Société Générale Algérienne (SCA), chaired by the Crédit Foncier's Governor Louis Frémy.[1] In 1880, following the SCA's collapse and Frémy's dismissal in 1877, the Crédit Foncier created an affiliate bank in French Algeria, branded the Crédit Foncier et Agricole d'Algérie (CFAA).[2] The governance of the CFAA initially included two board committees, one in Paris representing the shareholders and the other in Algiers, closer to the business. On 1881/01/01, the new bank took over the small Algerian loan portfolio developed by Crédit Foncier de France since 1860, and its operations started on 1881/03/15. A governance reshuffle in 1888 repatriated the main locus of decision-making from Algiers to Paris. Even though the Crédit Foncier de France did not hold significant equity in the CFAA, it practically controlled it and was its main source of funding in the early years.

The Parisian office of the CFAA was initially located at 21, rue des Capucines, then in 1896 at 4, rue Mogador, and from 1905 at 43, rue Cambon, where the bank would remain for many decades. It expanded into the nearby 45, rue Cambon in 1912. In Algiers, the bank purchased a waterfront lot in 1881, on the location of a demolished synagogue. It moved into the new building erected there in November 1886.

Decolonization

During World War II, the CFAT's Parisian head office was cut off from its branches in London and Malta in 1940, from its operations in the Levant in 1941, and from its main North African business in late 1942, until the Liberation of Paris in 1944. Following the independence of Lebanon and Syria during World War II, the CFAT kept its branches there (in Beirut, Tripoli, Damascus, and Aleppo), complemented with new openings in Latakia (1951) and Zahlé (1955). In 1952, it also opened a branch in Tripoli in Libya. In 1947, however, the CFAT sold the Banque de Salonique's Greek operations, which had been severely damaged during World War II, to the Greek-owned Bank of Chios. In 1960, the CFAT created a subsidiary in Damascus, the Banque de l'Orient arabe, which took over its Syrian operations, and soon sold part of its equity to local interests; its residual 30 percent stake was nationalized in 1968.

In 1953, the Banque de l'Indochine took a stake in the CFAT, whose equity ownership had previously been dispersed, and entered its board. Separately, in 1954, the CFAT had for the first time a Muslim board member, Elhadj Zouai, followed by Mohammed Hadj-Sadok in 1961. In 1960, the CFAT acquired the Crédit Foncier de Monaco, the leading deposit-taking institution in Monaco.

In 1959-1961, the CFAT sold much of its Tunisian network to the newly established state-owned Banque Nationale Agricole, and only kept its main urban locations in Tunis, Sfax, and Sousse.

Later developments

By 1968, the SCDB's main shareholders were the Banque de l'Indochine (21.5 percent), the Banque Française pour le Commerce (10 percent), and the Crédit Foncier de France (10 percent). The next year, the SCDB initiated talks aiming at consolidation within Société Générale,[8] and sold its majority control of Banque de Salonique, which still had operations in Turkey, to Yapı Kredi. In 1970, its London branch was taken over by the Banque de l'Indochine.

In 1971, the SCDB's acquisition by Société Générale was completed, while the Banque de l'Indochine took over the Crédit Foncier de Monaco. The Banque Française pour le Moyen-Orient (BFMO) was formed from the SCDB's Lebanese operations and subsequently controlled by the Banque de l'Indochine, then rebranded Fransabank in 1982. The Société de Banque du Maghreb sold part of its network to Société Générale Morocco, after which the residual operations were acquired by Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur. From then on, the SCDB focused entirely on its French operations, which partly served the community of individuals repatriated from French North Africa in the 1960s, through a network that reached 72 branches in the 1970s.

In 1986, the SCDB was further downsized. In 1997, its brand was discontinued, and it was fully absorbed by Société Générale.

Leadership

• René Brice, 1880-1890
• Félix Thoureau, 1890-1894
• Hippolyte Suquet, 1894-1899
• Sébastien de Neufville, 1899-1902
• André Lebon, 1902-1937
• Xavier Loisy, 1937-1944
• Louis Renaudin, 1944-1961
• Gonzague de Lavernette, 1961-1971
• Jean Galibert, 1971-1973
• Charles Frappart, 1973-1980
• Edmond de Lavalette; 1980-1982
• Dominique Saglio, 1982-1984
• Yann Gaillard, 1984-1987
• Pierre Pichot, 1987-1996

See also

• Compagnie Algérienne
• Banque de Tunisie
• List of banks in France