Parisian Union Bank

(Banque de l’Union Parisienne), one of France’s biggest unnationalized deposit banks. The bank was founded in 1874 as the Parisian Bank. During the crisis of the 1890’s it was closed. In 1904, with the participation of the biggest Parisian banking houses (Hottinguer, Mallet, de Neuflize, Mirabaud, Verne, and Heine), activity was resumed under the name of the Parisian Union Bank. The bank absorbed the large investment bank Crédit Mobilier (1932), the banking house Mirabaud (1953), and the Compagnie Algérienne (1960), and became the second largest investment (business) bank in the country. In 1966 resolution was made to merge the bank with the deposit bank Compagnie Française de Crédit et de Banque (Société Nouvelle), which has 100 branches in France. The bank is controlled by two banking houses, De Neuflize, Schlumberger, Mallet et Compagnie and Verne et Compagnie, linked by personal union with industrial monopolies (for example, such trusts as Schneider-Creuzot and De Wendel). Upon merging with the finance company Suez (1967), the Parisian Union Bank was reorganized as a deposit bank. The united bank has 97 branches. Joint-stock capital in early 1969 consisted of 80 million francs, with reserves of 62 million francs, a total balance of 3.6 billion francs, deposits of 3.3 billion francs, and securities of 1.6 billion francs. All banking operations of the Parisian Union Bank were transferred to its subsidiary bank, the French Credit-banking Company (formerly the Algerian Credit-banking Company), the name of which was changed to the Parisian Union Bank-French Credit-banking Company. The Parisian Union Bank was converted into a holding company; the united institute was given the name The Finance Company of Suez and of the Paris Union. The new finance company holds the controlling block of shares in the capital of the Parisian Union Bank CFCB, and 50 percent of the capital of one of the biggest business banks in France, the Bank de Suez et de l’Union de Mines, the total balance of which, on Dec. 31, 1968, was 2.6 billion francs.