As with many of the Crédit Agricole Group’s foreign subsidiaries, we need to look back at the history of the Bank of Indochina to find the origins of our presence in Australia.
From the Bank of Indochina representative office in Indosuez Australia Ltd
Bank of Indochina opened a representative office in Sydney in 1970. It appears that the sector has been operating relatively modestly for a number of years. In 1975, the Bank of Indochina merged with the Banque de Suez and the Union des Mines. The new company is called Banque Indosuez. The representative office in Sydney is still active.
In 1982, Banque Indosuez expanded its ambitions for Australia. Together with the Australian group Howard Smith, it created the merchant bank Indosuez Australia Ltd. This new entity obtained a licence in 1984 which enabled it to carry out all foreign exchange transactions. Howard Smith withdrew in 1985 from the capital and Banque Indosuez took full control of its Australian subsidiary. In the same year, another entity was created, specialising in securities transactions: Indosuez Securities Ltd (Australia).
In 1989, the subsidiary opened a representative office in London to monitor the development of Australian companies in Europe. Indosuez Australia Ltd, which was previously mainly active as a project finance bank, is expanding its field of intervention to corporate finance, real estate financing, treasury and foreign exchange.
By contrast, the early 1990s were a period of consolidation and restructuring. Facing some difficulties in 1992, the Australian offices of Indosuez were restructured: the Melbourne offices were closed and the securities business was halted. Only Indosuez Australia Ltd remains. A joint operational platform, based in New Zealand, is being set up for the Australian and New Zealand locations.
The arrival of Crédit Agricole
In 1990, the Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole opened a branch in Singapore that operates as an off-shore bank and covers Australia in particular. However, it was with the acquisition of Indosuez in 1996 that Crédit Agricole really gained a foothold on the mainland. In 1998, Indosuez Australia Ltd became Crédit Agricole Indosuez Australia Ltd.
Crédit Agricole Indosuez’s merger with Crédit Lyonnais’ corporate and investment bank forms Calyon in 2003, renamed Crédit Agricole CIB in 2010. However, this merger is nothing new in Australia, since Crédit Lyonnais sold its local subsidiary in 1999.
In 2004, Australia was nevertheless considered a strategic development focus for Calyon. The local subsidiary is named Calyon Australia Ltd. It will be renamed Crédit Agricole CIB Australia Ltd again in 2010. That same year, Crédit Agricole S.A. issued a three-year “kangaroo bond” in the Australian market for A$900 million, a record amount for a first issue by a foreign bank.
For a few years, starting in 2007, Crédit Agricole was also present in Australia in the asset management business. However, today Crédit Agricole CIB Australia Ltd is the only Group entity with a presence in the country. Its 51 employees are based in Sydney and Melbourne and work in Australia and New Zealand.