History of the Group’s presence in the United Arab Emirates
The Group’s presence in the United Arab Emirates dates back to the 1970s with the establishment of Banque de l’Indochine and Crédit Lyonnais.
Banque de l’Indochine and Indosuez
As is often the case when tracing the history of the Crédit Agricole Group’s international operations, the Bank of Indochine or Crédit Lyonnais are the first to be identified. For the United Arab Emirates, this is still the case: the Bank of Indochina opened a branch in Dubai in 1974. Transformed into Banque Indosuez in 1975, it opened a second branch in Sharjah in 1976. The latter was eventually moved to Abu Dhabi in 1981, without losing any customers.
In 1989, two banks from which Indosuez has stakes merged. These are Al Saudi Bank and Banque Libano-française, which become Banque Française de l’Orient (BFO). Indosuez then holds a 34.40% stake in this bank, which has activities in Bahrain, while Crédit Lyonnais holds 40%. In 1994, the Indosuez branches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai merged with the BFO.
Crédit Lyonnais
Before setting up a physical presence in the United Arab Emirates, Crédit Lyonnais acquired a 25% stake in Alhali Bank Ltd in 1971, when it was founded in Dubai. At the same time, Commerzbank and Banco di Roma can also represent Crédit Lyonnais with their Dubai locations under the Europartenariat agreement.
In 1976, Crédit Lyonnais installed a permanent representative in Abu Dhabi for wealth management. This first establishment was transformed into a representative office in 1979. Nearly a decade later, in 1988, a second representative office was opened, also in Abu Dhabi. This second establishment did not last because the bank separated from it in 1990 during the first Gulf War.
However, in 1997, Crédit Lyonnais reopened a new representative office focused on asset management. The following year, it was replaced by an asset management division responsible for strengthening ties with major Gulf investors.
In 2000, the bank created a new commercial branch in Abu Dhabi within its international private banking network.
From Crédit Agricole Indosuez to today
When it acquired Banque Indosuez in 1996, Crédit Agricole inherited the Abu Dhabi and Dubai branches, which became Crédit Agricole Indosuez Gulf. It also obtains 40% of the capital of Banque Française de l’Orient. The latter became a full subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Indosuez in 1999.
In the early 2000s, Crédit Agricole Indosuez was still present in the United Arab Emirates through a branch. The creation of Calyon in 2005 - following the merger of Crédit Agricole Indosuez and the CIB of Crédit Lyonnais - does not change the situation. The Group’s development in this region also involves Banque Saudi Fransi, in which Calyon has a 31% stake. Calyon was renamed Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank in 2010.
In 2009, the Group strengthened its presence in the United Arab Emirates through Crédit Agricole (Suisse) SA, which obtained a licence to open representative offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for its private banking, private equity and real estate activities.