Mauritius Commercial Bank

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Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) is the oldest and largest bank in Mauritius. It is also the oldest banking institution south of the Sahara and one of the oldest banks of the Commonwealth to have preserved its original name.

[edit] History

• 1838 Several British merchants and traders, including James Blyth and William Hollier Griffiths, establish the Banque Commerciale de l’îsle Maurice to compete with the only other bank, the Bank of Mauritius, which favors the planters on the island.
• 1859 MCB's bank charter is renewed. MCB loses the privilege of note issuance but this is non-binding as the bank had ceased issuing notes in 1850 and none are in circulation.
• 1949 Lloyds Bank becomes a shareholder. In 1999 its shareholding is 10%.
• 1991 MCB opened representative offices in Paris and Antananarivo, Madagascar. Together with Credit Lyonnais (40%) and Banque de la Reunion (a subsidiary of Credit Lyonnais-25%), MCB (35%) established Banque Internationale Des Mascareignes, an offshore unit based in Mauritius. (In 1998 Crédit Lyonnais confirmed the transfer to Cepac (Caisse d’épargne Provence-Alpes-Corse) of its remaining shares (25.5%) in Banque internationale des Mascareignes.)
• 1992 MCB became the majority shareholder of Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien (BFCOAI), which is registered in France. The previous owner, Banque Indosuez, having retained an interest. BFCOI has branches in Reunion Island (9), Mayotte (4) and the Seychelles (1), and a head office in Paris. MCB also established Union Commercial Bank in Antananarivo in Madagascar. The original shareholders were MCB (70%), Standard Bank Investment Corporation Ltd (10%), BFCOI (10%), FIARO (5%) and Société Manofi (5%). By 2000, MCB’s share ownership had risen to 79%.
• 1992 MCB establishes a branch in Paris.
• 1999 MCB established a subsidiary in Maputo, Mozambique: União Comercial De Bancos (Moçambique). By 2000 MCB's shareholding is 76%.
• 2000 MCB acquires the minority stake Credit Agricole Indosuez holds in BFCOI, increasing its stake by 22.22% to 88.88%. This followed the takeover of Banque Indosuez by the Credit Agricole Group, which itself had operations in both Reunion and Mayotte in direct competition with BFCOI.
• 2003 MCB agreed with Société Générale for the two to jointly own (50-50) BFCOI. However, the agreement did not include BFCOI's operations in the Seychelles. MCB therefore incorporated a new fully owned subsidiary, Mauritius Commercial Bank (Seychelles) - MCB Seychelles - to take over BFCOI's operations there.

[edit] Source

Mauritius Commercial Bank. 1963. The Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited, 1838-1963. (Port Louis: The Mauritius Commercial Bank).