The bank for a chaging world

From The "Restauration" To the Third Republic

1848 Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris and Comptoir National d'Escompte de Mulhouse

Antoine Laurent Pagnerre,
one of the firsts directors of CNEP.


 

Comptoirs founded in response to financial crisis

Against the backdrop of a serious economic and financial crisis, itself exacerbated by political turmoil and by the Revolution of 1848, businesses were no longer able to rely on support from banks for the discounts they had formerly received.

A decree dated March 7, 1848 by the provisional government of the Second Republic created a national discount bank in major manufacturing and trading cities. This initiative was taken by the Finance Minister Louis-Antoine Garnier Pagès.

The decree establishing the Comptoir National d'Escompte de la Ville de Paris, or CNEP, was effected on March 8, 1848. CNEP had a share capital of 20 million French francs, one-third of it in cash paid in by the subscribing partners, one-third in bonds issued by the City of Paris, and one-third in Treasury bills issued by the French state. Antoine Laurent Pagnerre, secretary of the provisional government, became the first Director of the CNEP, and was succeeded in July of 1848 by Hippolyte Biesta.

Another discount bank, the Comptoir National d'Escompte de Mulhouse, or CNEM, was founded on March 28, 1848 by a group of Alsatian factory owners who operated mainly in the textile and mechanical equipment industries. This bank had an initial capital of a million French francs.

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