HSBC UBP

Union de Banques à Paris, now HSBC UBP, resulted from the 1935 merger of three different banks: Banque Mutuelle d'Etudes et de Crédits (BME), Banque de Suède et de Paris and Banque Argentine et Française.

Banque Mutuelle d'Etudes et de Crédits (BME)

Banque Mutuelle d'Etudes et de Crédits (BME) was founded in 1911 by graduates of the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. Their goal was to create both a traditional investment banking institution and a company capable of managing industrial and commercial businesses. BME had a mutualist structure, in which its customers were also shareholders with a stake in the bank’s businesses. A few years after its creation, Banque Mutuelle totalled about ten subsidiaries specialising in a variety of activities ranging from industrial construction to the production of Auvergne jams to farming in Algeria.

On joining the Board of Directors in 1921, Pierre Lebon revitalised and reformed the bank’s structures, rapidly expanding its initial activities to include commercial banking.
In the 1930s, Lebon paved the way for the merger with two complementary establishments: Banque de Suède et de Paris and Banque Argentine et Française.

Banque de Suède et de Paris

Banque de Suède et de Paris was created just before World War I by Swedish businessmen living in France, with a view to facilitating economic and commercial flows between the two countries. In 1929, the majority of the capital was held by Swedish entrepreneur Ivan Kreuger, world leader in the matchstick market. Though the 1930s depression took its tool on Kreuger’s economic empire, Banque de Suède et de Paris nevertheless fought to survive. Axel Egnell, an engineer and Chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in France, struggled to turn around a situation which had already turned critical.

Business did improve slightly in 1933 thanks to customer loyalty. The bank’s days nevertheless appeared to be numbered. And along came Pierre Lebon, who also had his eye on another bank: Banque Argentine et Française.

Banque Argentine et Française

Banque Argentine et Française was created in Paris in 1909 to facilitate transactions between Argentina and France and to act as a link with the parent company, Banque Française du Rio de la Plata. It took just a few years after its creation for Banque Argentine et Française to become one of the leading vectors of trade with Argentina. It was soon able to take advantage of the flourishing overseas economy to open a new branch in the centre of Paris.

With the bank’s business so closely linked to foreign trade, its health grew fragile in the 1920s. It took a heavy blow when the Crash of 1929 hit, exacerbated by poor crop yields in South America, but nevertheless maintained high reserves and a significant portfolio of customers.

These assets convinced Pierre Lebon to bring Banque Mutuelle d'Etudes et de Crédit in on its capital and become its majority shareholder. At this point, he organised Banque Argentine et Française’s takeover of BME and Banque de Suède et de Paris’ clientele and funds. The merger took place on February 19, 1935, giving rise to Union de Banques à Paris.

After a rocky start, with low profits due to the 1930s crisis and the occupation of France in World War II, the bank’s results began to climb. In the post-WWII period, it developed relations with several local banks and also put out feelers abroad, while continuing to nurture privileged economic ties with Sweden.

In 1956, UBP began launching marketing campaigns and the following year acquired the Montreuil bank, Charpin et Cie - Escompte de la Seine, present in eastern Paris. The merger took effect in August 1959.

The 1960s was a time of expansion in Paris and the suburbs alike and also the period when the bank made its first forays into real estate. Pierre Lebon, founder and chairman of UBP, died in 1968 and was succeeded by his son Roger, who had been with the bank for twenty years.

In the 1970s, the bank continued its expansion by acquiring four establishments. In 1973, became the majority shareholder of the public limited company Parisienne de Crédit, created in 1869 by a cooperative of Parisian butchers. Four months later, it absorbed Banque Parisienne d'Escompte, whose clientele consisted primarily of professionals in the wine-making industry.

In 1977, it acquired the three branches of Crédit Chimique, followed the next year by ORHOFI (Société Rhodanienne de Financement), which was renamed Banque de Rhône et Loire and bought a stake in Banque Brière (which became Banque de Picardie).

Union de Banques à Paris was nationalised by the Law of February 13, 1982. Its next acquisition was Compagnie Commerciale de Banque in 1985.

The following year, UBP became a subsidiary of CCF. Its multiple acquisitions enabled it to expand its network in the Paris region. UBP’s 55 branches, spread across Paris and the Ile-de-France region, have operated under the HSBC brand since November 2005.