Former head office building on 16 boulevard de Waterloo in Brussels, designed for the SNCI by architect Hugo Van Kuyck in 1958 and inaugurated in 1961[1]: 63 [2]
By 1980 the head office of SNCI had moved to the Astro Tower,[3] where it remained until 2005[4]

The Société Nationale de Crédit à l'Industrie, branded Crédit à l'Industrie from the 1980s (Dutch: Nationale Maatschappij voor Krediet aan de Nijverheid, SNCI / NMKN; lit. 'National Industrial Credit Company'), was a Belgian public bank. It was established in 1919 to help finance post-World War I reconstruction, and eventually merged into ASLK / CGER in 1996-1997.

Interwar period

The Société Nationale de Crédit à l’Industrie was created by legislation of 16 March 1919 by the Belgian state in the context of post-World War I reconstruction, as a non-profit state entity, partly inspired by France's Crédit National.[1]: 19-20  It was initially capitalized by the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) and its shares were distributed to the NBB's shareholders, to which it was thus initially a sister company.[5]: 87  It first specialised in shipping loans,[6] and in grants to industrial companies whose plants had been damaged during the war.[5]: 87 

In 1926, a capital increased allowed the large Belgian commercial banks to increase their presence among the SNCI's shareholders and to gradually dominate its board.[5]: 87  In August 1934 its scope was expanded, as it was authorized to take over industrial loans (with recourse) from Belgian banks that were struggling in the aftermath of the European banking crisis of 1931. The program was further expanded in 1935.[5]: 22 

Postwar era

After World War II, the SNCI was involved in the distribution of loans under the Marshall Plan. Over time, it opened branches and offices in Antwerp, Bruges, Charleroi, Ghent, Hannut, Hasselt, Kortrijk, Leuven, Liège, Lokeren, Mechelen, Mons, Namur, Nivelles, Saint-Nicolas, Tournai, Turnhout, Verviers, and Vilvoorde.[1]: 60-62 

In 1973, the SNCI was a founding member of a club of specialized long-term credit institutions in the European Community, together with France's Crédit National, Germany's Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Italy's Istituto Mobiliare Italiano, the Netherlands' Nationale Investeringsbank, and the UK's Finance Corporation for Industry among others.[1]: 50 

From 1968 to 1986, the Crédit à l'Industrie partnered with ASLK / CGER and became a major provider of state aid to Belgian industrial businesses, e.g. in the textile and steel sectors. After 1986 it started developing its own banking service offerings and was granted a full banking license in 1994. More broadly, the SNCI's role and usefulness as a public-sector organization came into debate in the 1980s and 1990s. The Belgian government coalition agreement of 8 May 1988 foresaw a combination of public-sector banks, resulting in legislation of 17 June 1991 that mandated the integration of the SNCI into a single group together with the Crédit Communal de Belgique and the Office Central de Crédit Hypothécaire. The Crédit Communal, however, ensured that these provisions were not implemented.[7]: 21–23  The SNCI was eventually sold by the Belgian state to ASLK / CGER which fully absorbed it in 1997.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 René Brion and Jean-Louis Moreau. "Inventaire des archives de la SNCI (Société Nationale de Crédit à l'Industrie)" (PDF). BNP Paribas Fortis. BNP Paribas Historical Center & Association pour la Valorisation des Archives d’Entreprises asbl.
  2. ↑ "W16 - Mixed development; renovation + extension of an office building & commercial spaces - CONIX RDBM Architects as architect". Archello.
  3. ↑ Eliane Fobelets (1980), "Annexe économique : carte d'identité des principales institutions privées et publiques à compétence socio-économique en rapport avec la région bruxelloise", in Anne-Marie Kumps, Robert Wtterwulghe and Francis Delpérée (ed.), L'Avenir de Bruxelles : Aspects économiques et institutionnels, Collection générale, Brussels: Presses de l’Université Saint-Louis, pp. 141–172, ISBN 9782802803706
  4. ↑ "Nicolas Favresse escalade la tour Astro à l'occasion du changement de nom du crédit à l'industrie". Flickr. 1 June 2005.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Federal Reserve Board (June 1944), Army Service Forces Manual M361-5 / Civil Affairs Handbook Belgium Section 5: Money and Banking, Washington DC: U.S. Army Service Forces
  6. 1 2 "Crédit à l'Industrie, Belgium's 'Little blue Factory' Financier". BNP Paribas.
  7. ↑ Jacques Moden (1996), "La restructuration du Credit communal", Courrier hebdomadaire du CRISP, Brussels: Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques (1539)
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