Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The National Account of Paris (CNEP), ancestor of BNP Paribas, was founded by decree on 10 March 1848 in a context of post-revolutionary economic crisis. Its creation was aimed at reviving credit and commerce, with an initial capital of 20 million francs distributed between the State, the City of Paris and private investors, including booksellers and publishers. This counter was one of the 66 similar institutions created in France to stabilize the financial system after hundreds of banks were bankrupt between 1846 and 1848.

In 1854, CNEP privatized under the name of Comptoir d'Escompte de Paris (CEP), abandoning any public oversight. He specializes in discounting and quickly develops an international network, becoming the first French bank to establish agencies in Asia (Shanghai, Calcutta in 1860), Oceania, and Africa. This expansion was aimed at competing with British banks and securing supplies of raw materials, such as cotton during the Civil War. In France, agencies opened in Nantes (1867), Lyon (1868) and Marseille (1869), strengthening links between commercial metropolises and colonies.

The crash of 1889, caused by risky speculations about copper orchestrated by director Edward Hentsch and industrialist Eugene Secrétan, almost led to the collapse of the CEP. The Banque de France intervened urgently with an advance of 100 million francs to avoid a systemic collapse. The CEP was liquidated in April 1889, but was reborn as CNEP in June, under the direction of Alexis Rostand. The bank focused on colonial deposits and issues, actively participating in French industrialisation (transport, electricity, mining) and extending its network to 733 agencies in 1966.

The headquarters, built between 1878 and 1883 by architect Édouard Corroyer (student of Viollet-le-Duc), embodies the bank's opulence with its neo-Byzantine decorations, mosaics signed by Giandomenico Facchina, and sculptures by Aimé Millet (allegories of Finance, Prudence and Commerce). The Edouard Didron window, suspended from a metal frame, illuminated an atrium serving as a central agency, while technological innovations (electricity, elevators, pneumatic tubes) modernized operations. Partially classified in 1991, the building was sold in 2020 after sheltering BNP Paribas Asset Management.

The merger of CNEP with the National Bank for Trade and Industry (BNCI) in 1966, under the leadership of Minister Michel Debré, gave birth to the National Bank of Paris (BNP). This merger marked the end of the CNEP as an independent entity, but its legacy continues through BNP Paribas, now present in more than 80 countries. The building on Rue Bergère, symbol of this history, remains a major architectural testimony of the French banking age.

External links