Crédit Du Nord

a large French commercial deposit bank. Founded in 1848 as the Lille Accounting Office, it was reorganized in 1866 into the Industrial Credit and Deposit Bank of Lille, and in 1884 it received the name Credit du Nord. The board is in Lille, and the main office is in Paris. As a result of the absorption of a number of local banks, Credit du Nord turned into the largest regional bank in France, with a broad network of branches (400 in 1971) in the northern departments. Only a few branches are located in southern wine-growing areas. In contrast to the other large deposit banks of France, which seek to cover the entire country, Credit du Nord has concentrated on serving the north, where a wealth of natural resources is combined with a developed, diverse economy, including coal, metallurgy, chemicals, textiles, and food. It has a subsidiary bank for long-term credit in Paris (Union Bancaire du Nord) and two subsidiary banks in Belgium with 14 branches. The balance total of Crédit du Nord on Jan. 1, 1973, was 9.7 billion francs, with capital and reserves of 235 million, deposits of 6.7 billion, discount and loan transactions of 5.3 billion, and securities of 1 billion.