Union Bancaire pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (UBCI, ) is a bank based in Tunis, Tunisia. It was formed in 1961 by merger of prior operations of the Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (BNCI). It was subsequently controlled by BNCI until 1966, then by its successors the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) until 2000 and BNP Paribas until 2021, when it was acquired by Tunisian insurer the Compagnie d'Assurance et de Réassurance Tuniso-Européenne (CARTE) controlled by the Doghri family.
Overview
The Paris-based BNCI formed UBCI in 1961 in anticipation of Algerian independence, by merging its Tunis-based subsidiary, the Union Financière et Technique de Tunisie (UFITEC, lit. 'Financial and Technical Union of Tunisia', est. 1955), with BNCI-Afrique (BNCI-A, based in Algiers) which also had operations in Tunisia.[1] BNCI-A had been originally established in 1927 as the Union Nord-Africaine pour la Finance, l'Agriculture et l'Industrie, then renamed as Banque de l'Union Nord-Africaine (BUNA) in 1930, then again renamed as BNCI-A in 1940 after the BNCI acquired a majority stake.[2] From its formation the UBCI had branches in Tunis (rue Mokhtar-Attia and rue Es-Sadikia), Bizerte, Grombalia, Mateur, Sfax, and Sousse.
In 1969, following BNCI's merger with the Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris (CNEP) three years earlier, UBCI absorbed the Banque d'Escompte et de Crédit à l'Industrie en Tunisie (BEIT). The latter had been established in 1963 as a partnership between the CNEP, the Banque Industrielle de l'Afrique du Nord (BIAN), and Morgan Guaranty Trust. The BIAN had been created in 1919 in Paris, with its main office in Algiers until Algerian independence, and had opened its first branch in Tunis in the early 1920s.[3]
Leadership
See also
References
- Cedric Tossa. Tunisie : BNP ouvre une « réflexion stratégique » sur sa participation au capital de l'UBCI Financial Afrik, 2019-1-22^
- Union Nord-Africaine pour la Finance, l'Agriculture et l'Industrie (1927) puis Banque de l'Union Nord-Africaine (1930-1940), Alger Entreprises Coloniales Françaises, 2022^
- Banque Industrielle de l'Afrique du Nord