The bank for a chaging world

Crisis and the Second World War

 1920 - 1945 Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas



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Teller windows at the
Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas
3 rue d'Antin.
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Horace Finaly,
Chief Officer of
Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas
from 1919 to 1937

A prudent strategy between the world wars and during World War Two

The period of political and financial instability between the First and Second World Wars saw a general decline in the bank's activities. Horace Finaly, Chief Executive between 1919 and 1937, prudently shifted his policy, as he had done with bond issues, toward the acquisition of industries that dealt with chemicals, electricity, and oil (with the creation of the Compagnie Française des Pétroles and the development of close relations with Esso Standard and Romanian oil company Steaua Romana). In the same vein, the bank took an interest in the areas of iron, steel and the media, and established contacts with Havas, Hachette and the Compagnie Générale de TSF.

During this period, international holdings were reduced and the focus remained on France and its overseas empire. Following the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian empire and at the request of the French government, however, Paribas once again became active internationally through the Banque des Pays de l'Europe Centrale, itself formed from the Austrian Länderbank. It retained, and continued to develop, significant positions in the Americas and the Middle East, notably in liaison with the Banque Ottomane, in which the bank became a major shareholder in 1920.

The Second World War saw a dramatic decrease in activity as the bank was cut off from its affiliates and correspondents in the Allied countries. It also lost a portion of its foreign assets, particularly in Central Europe and Norway (Norsk Hydro), but remained active in overseas territories such as Morocco.

The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas began taking an interest in the development of industrial patents, especially in the energy sector, to prepare for the recovery period to come at the end of the war.

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