Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie
| Limited liability | |
| Industry | Banking |
| Successor | BNP Paribas |
| Founded | April 18, 1932 |
| Defunct | 1966 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
National Bank for Trade and Industry (French: Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie) or BNCI was one of four banks that combined to form BNP Paribas.
BNCI was created on the 18 April 1932 replacing Banque nationale de crédit (BNC) which failed as a result of the 1930s recession. The former bank's headquarters and staff were used to create BNCI with fresh capital of 100 millions francs. It was nationalised by the French government together with the other major banks in 1945 and merged with Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris to create Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) in 1966.
The stock market crash of 1929 put Banque nationale de crédit (BNC), then a major French bank, on the verge of bankruptcy.
To avoid a huge crash in Paris, as well as negative impact on the provincial economy and foreign trade, the French government and a consortium of banks and other companies decide to support the BNC. They forced the director (Andre Vincent, also director of the Comptoir Lyon-Alemand) to resign, and the Bank of France absorbed all the banks debts. However due to the uncertain economic climate of the inter-war period, depositors were still not reassured and under the auspices of the Minister of Finance, the government, assisted by a group of French banks provided an additional guarantee for depositors. However, the economic crisis continues to spread worldwide, and investors continue to withdraw their money so that by 1931 over 75% of deposits had been withdrawn causing the banks share price to slump.
BNC had lost market confidence and it was decided to officially liquidate the bank in April 1932 and to recreate it under a different name with the same staff in the same office (16 boulevard des Italiens à Paris). The ex-BNC is renamed National Bank for Trade and Industry (BNCI) and would grow rapidly absorbing other failed banks, including for example in 1937 the Bank Adam when it was crushed by the 1929 crisis.
The French government appointed François Albert-Buisson, former President of the Commercial Court of the Seine, as its new president. He was assisted by Alfred Pose, the first general director or CEO (former Director of Studies of the Societe Generale Bank of Alsace in Strasbourg).
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