In 1951, concerned about its geographical concentration in the high-risk region of Indochina, BFCCI sought to diversify by establishing branches in Madagascar. After the French defeat in 1954 at Diên Biên Phu, BFCCI closed its offices in North Vietnam. However, the bank started to expand in South Vietnam and Cambodia. The next year, BFCCI finally left China, its branches having been inoperative for some time. In 1960, the Banque de l'Indochine purchase the shares in BFCCI that Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas and Banque Lazard had held. In 1963, Prince Sihanouk nationalized the banking sector in Cambodia, though BFCCI was allowed to retain a representative office. In 1964, BFCCI changed its name to Banque Française pour le Commerce. The next year, the government of South Vietnam wished to create a domestic bank sector. BFC participated in the creation of Banque pour le Commerce, l'Industrie et l'Agriculture — Nong Cong Thuong Ngan Hang in Vietnamese — under the control of a young South Vietnamese seconded from BFC. A change in French law in 1967 liberalized branching, enabling BFC to increase the number of its branches in France. The next year, BFC changed its name to Banque Française Commerciale. Political turmoil cost BFC several operations in 1975. The operations in Madagascar had been satisfactory until political turmoil commenced in 1972. Then in 1975, the Malagasy Republic nationalized its branches there and transferred them to the Banque Financiere et Commerciale Malagache. Also, the fall of Saigon reduced the BFC Group in Vietnam to inactivity. The authorities liquidated the bank and seized its assets; the expatriate staff returned to France. BFC decided to transfer its operations in the Indian Ocean and in 1976, established a branch in Réunion. BFC also established operations in Mayotte at the request of the French Government after the island lost all banking services when it split from the Comoros and voted to stay linked to France. BFC also acquired Banque Antillaise and opened a branch in French Guiana. Two years later, BFCOI opened a branch in the Seychelles. The next year, BFC absorbed Banque Antillaise, together with its branches in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique, and established a branch in Dominica.
Creation of Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien
In 1984, BFC restructured itself as a holding company. It established three legally and operationally distinct companies: Banque Française Commerciale en France Métropolitaine to hold the branches in France, Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien to hold the branches in Reunion, Mayotte and the Seychelles, and Banque Française Commerciale Antilles-Guyane to take over the branches in French Guiana and the Antilles. Banque Indosuez owned the entire share capital of all three entities. The next year, Compagnie Lyonnaise de Financement Immobiliere acquired BFC's branches in France. Banque Indosuez sold a majority position in BFCOI to Mauritius Commercial Bank in 1996; Banque Indosuez retained 22.22%. The next year, BFCOI opened a branch in Paris. In 1997, BFCOI opened a representative office in Mozambique. In 2000, MCB acquired the minority stake Crédit Agricole Indosuez held in BFCOI, increasing its stake to 88.88%. This followed the takeover of Banque Indosuez by the Crédit Agricole Group, which itself had operations in both Reunion and Mayotte in direct competition with BFCOI. BFCOI became the representative of Banque Fédérale Mutualiste in the Indian Ocean region.
Join venture
In early 2003, the Bank finalized an agreement with Société Générale, establishing joint ownership of BFCOI. However, BFCOI's Seychelles operations fell outside the scope of the agreement. Instead, MCB incorporated a new fully owned subsidiary, The Mauritius Commercial Bank, trading under the name of MCB Seychelles, to take over the assets and liabilities of the Seychelles-based banking network of BFCOI.
