It has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late , and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank. The bank was founded by a group of industrialists and financiers during the Second Empire on 4 May By , the bank had 47 branches throughout France, including 15 in Paris. It set up a permanent office in London in At the beginning, the bank used its own resources almost entirely for both financial and banking operations.
The bank was financially involved with some of the businesses created by Paulin Talabot , the railway and canal engineer. Talabot came to have an influential role in the bank. From to , France went through a period of economic gloom marked by the failure of several banking establishments. The company continued to grow at a more moderate pace. In , there were banking outlets, demonstrating the group's capacity to withstand unfavourable economic conditions. Starting in , the bank set up the structures characterising a large, modern credit institution.
As well as collecting company and private deposits, its branches started to provide short-term operating credits for industrialists and traders. It also moved into placing shares with the general public, issuing private debenture loans in France and also in Russia.
Acquisition of equity stakes became a more secondary activity. The company's excellent financial health allowed it to expand its shareholding structure. The war years were difficult and had serious consequences with the loss of Russian business.
The number of sales outlets rose from 1, in to 1, in including those operated by Sogenal [ fr ]. On an international level, the bank held an active participation in the Russo-Asian Bank, one of the leading bank of the Russian empire.
