The origins of Crédit Agricole in Portugal
Contrary to its story in Spain, Crédit Lyonnais, during its restructuring at the end of the 1990s, closed all of its operations in Portugal where it had had a presence since 1893. All that remained was a factoring subsidiary called Sociedad CL Eurofactoring SA.
Similarly, Banque Indosuez had opened a representative office in Lisbon in 1981 where it continued to develop a financial company until the early 1990s. However, all Crédit Agricole Indosuez establishments gradually closed their doors in Portugal between 1996 (date of the acquisition of Indosuez by Crédit Agricole) and 2003.
To find some continuity of presence in Portugal to this day, we need to look at the Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole which helped launch Banco Internacional de Credito in 1986. The most salient feature of the Group's history in Portugal is its long-standing partnership with the Banco Espirito Santo group (BES) which came to an end in 2014. Numerous projects emerged in a variety of business sectors with the BES: leasing in 1991 with a Ucabail subsidiary, insurance via the acquisition by Predica of a stake in Tranquilidade in 1990 (Predica then took full control in 2006), and consumer lending with Credibom, over which Sofinco took control in 2003 following many years as a minority stakeholder. On the finance and investment banking side, Crédit Agricole CIB opened a representation office in Lisbon in 2005.