Société Générale de Belgique

The Société Générale de Belgique (, lit. 'General Company of Belgium'; often referred to in Belgium simply as "Société Générale" or SGB) was an investment bank and, subsequently, an industrial and financial conglomerate in Belgium between 1822 and 2003. It has been described as the world's first universal bank.[1] The banking element was split in 1935 and became the Générale de Banque.[2] At its height in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Société Générale exercised significant control over large portions of the national economy of Belgium and the Belgian colonial empire.

The Société Générale was originally founded as an investment bank called the Société Générale des Pays-Bas pour favoriser l'industrie nationale or Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter Begunstiging van de Volksvlijt (lit. 'General Netherlands Society for Advantage to the National Industry') by William I of the Netherlands in 1822 when Belgium was under his rule within the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. After the Belgian Revolution in 1830, it was the new country's dominant financial institution and remained so even after the creation of the National Bank of Belgium in 1850. Its investments in the national economy contributed to the rapid development of the Industrial Revolution in the country and it soon emerged at the head of a major conglomerate of industrial and financial institutions active in Belgium and the Belgian Congo. The bank pioneered investments in non-listed equity.[1]

The Société Générale went through multiple restructurings throughout the 20th century. In 1988, the Paris-based Suez Company took over the Société Générale through a competitive takeover bid. In 2003, Suez brought the Société Générale to an end by merging it with Tractebel, another of its subsidiaries.

History

As part of the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the countries of Europe agreed to augment their armed forces from militias to standing armies. Although Belgium had been offered independence by the Prussians, Britain's Lord Castlereagh vetoed it on the grounds that the country was too small to be economically viable, and the question then arose of who should govern it, the Austrians having washed their hands of it as a historical accident of the breakup of the Habsburg Empire. Although William I of the Netherlands refused initially on the grounds of the added expense involved in maintaining his own army, Castlereagh persuaded him by asking him if he preferred to be Prince of Orange or King of the Netherlands, adding that from a practical point of view the Belgian Ducal Estates amounted to a third of the country.

William subsequently founded the Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij in 1822 in part to administer these large estates, while proclaiming the goal of increasing the welfare of the country. Upon contributing 28,108 hectares of forst land, the king was the single largest shareholder of the Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij at its founding,[3] the rest being subscribed by public and charitable institutions, other companies, and individuals. During its early years it had a dual activity, as managers of its vast forest lands and as a bank, supplementing De Nederlandsche Bank (est. 1814) which was active in the northern part of the kingdom. Its first banknotes were issued on 1823/03/03. It also acted as fiscal agent of the royal government, for which it developed a network of branches throughout the Southern Netherlands (including Luxembourg and

Head Office

Immediately after its creation in 1822, the company acquired for its head office the former Brussels branch of Averbode Abbey, at 3, rue Montagne du Parc/Warandeberg, a neoclassical structure designed by Barnabé Guimard and built in 1779–1781, which had become known as the Hôtel Wellington following a sojourn by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in June 1815, just before the Battle of Waterloo. The SGB subsequently expanded to other adjacent structures. After the Rue Ravenstein/Ravensteinstraat was created in 1911–1913 as part of the construction of Brussels' North–South connection, the SGB's premises were expanded southward with a Beaux-Arts wing bordering the new street all the way to what is now the Rue Baron Horta/Baron Hortastraat, designed by Jacques Van Mansfeld.[6]

Meanwhile, in 1904, the SGB had acquired its first building uphill on the same block, facing the more prestigious Rue Royale/Koningsstraat, which it had rebuilt in 1908.[7][8] In 1914, under the German occupation of Belgium during World War I, one of these buildings' rooms was used for the Comité National de Secours et d'Alimentation ("National Relief and Food Committee"). Further properties on the Rue Royale were bought in 1922 and rebuilt in 1928.

Notable subsidiaries

The following companies were once majority owned by the Société Générale:

• Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi - electric construction — electronics
• Coditel — public utility
• Compagnie Maritime Belge — cargo and shipping company
• Distrigas — public utility
• Electrabel — public utility
• FN Herstal — arms manufacturer
• Générale de Banque — bank
• La Brugeoise et Nivelles - Belgian rolling stock manufacturing company
• Tractebel — public utility
• Union Minière du Haut Katanga — mining company

Governors

The following individuals were governors of the Société Générale:[11]

After the takeover by Suez in 1988, the position of Governor was terminated. The following individuals held the chief executive position :

• Ocker Repelaer van Driel (1823–1830)
• Ferdinand de Meeûs (1830–1861)
• Charles Liedts (1861–1877)
• Victor Tesch (1877–1892)
• Ferdinand Baeyens (1892–1913)
• Jean Jadot (1913–1932)
• Emile Francqui (1932–1935)
• Alexandre Galopin (1935–1944)
• Gaston Blaise (1944–1950)
• Paul Gillet (1950–1961)

See also

• List of banks in Belgium

External links

• (Images, etc.)
• The creation of the Société Générale des Pays-Bas to encourage industry in 1822 and Generale Bank, a major player in the development of Belgian industry at BNP Paribas Fortis