Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Boubloub (talk | contribs) at 21:31, 11 January 2025 (Creation as stub). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Banque Franco-Japonaise (BFJ, Japanese: 日仏銀行 Nichi-Futsu Ginkō, lit. 'French-Japanese Bank') was a mid-sized bank headquartered in Paris, France. It was founded in 1912 with intent to pursue common projects with Japanese stakeholders particularly in French Indochina.

Overview

The BFJ was established on 1 July 1912 with sponsorship by Société Générale, and listed on the Paris Stock Exchange on 13 March 1914. Its chairman was Société Générale board member (and future chairman) Henri Guernaut, and its general manager, who had been instrumental in the bank's creation, was René Dorizon, himself the son of Société Générale Director Louis Dorizon. Juichi Soyeda was one of the bank's promoters on the Japanese side, and was among its initial board members. The bank was initially established at 132, rue Réaumur in Paris, then by 1918 at 34, rue de Chateaudun, and eventually by 1929 at 33, rue Cambon. By the late 1930s it had branches in Tokyo and Kobe.

During World War II, the BFJ was associated with the Vichy Government and by the end of the war was one of only two foreign banks that retained activities in Japan, the other being Deutsche Bank für Ostasien, an affiliate of Nazi Germany's Deutsche Bank. In October 1945, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur mandated the liquidation of the BFJ's Japanese branches together with those of the Bank of Chōsen, Bank of Taiwan, Chōsen Industrial Bank, and Deutsche Bank für Ostasien.

By 1951, the BFJ was still in activity in Paris, by then controlled by Jean de Gunzburg (1884–1959) of the Gunzburg family [fr], who had already been among the bank's board members during the 1920s. It was involved in gold trades with the Soviet Union via offshore financial centers such as Beirut and Tangier.

See also

• Banque Franco-Chinoise
• Banque Franco-Serbe

References

1. "Comment BNP Paribas s'est implanté au Japon (2/3): projets avortés de Paribas". BNP Paribas. 6 January 2025.
2. "Banque franco-japonaise". Data for Financial History. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
3. ^ Bulletin de la Société franco-japonaise de Paris (PDF), April 1913
4. "Poster Collection: Emprunt francais, 4% 1918". Hoover Institution. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
5. ^ "Banque franco-japonaise". Data for Financial History. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
6. "Banque franco-japonaise". Data for Financial History. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
7. J. Robert Brown, Jr. (1993), "Japanese Banking Reform and the Occupation Legacy: Decompartmenalization, Deregulation, and Decentralization", Denver Journal of International Law & Policy
8. "SCAPIN-1253: Closed Institution vs. Emergency Financial Measures". SCAPIN Database. 5 October 1946.
9. ^ "Information report" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 20 December 1951.

This bank and insurance-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Banks established in 1912
• Defunct banks of France
• Bank stubs