The Group’s origins in Spain can be traced back to 1875 when Crédit Lyonnais opened an office in Madrid, from which a retail banking network was born. The next 125 years would bring numerous successive phases of expansion and contraction.
Although the early 1990s saw the acquisition of several networks including Banco Comercial Espanol and Banca Jover, at the end of the decade Crédit Lyonnais was forced to sell its Spanish network to satisfy the European Commission as part of the restructuring of the bank. Crédit Lyonnais nonetheless maintained a presence in the country, through a leasing subsidiary (Slibail Iberica, created in 1972) and a factoring subsidiary (Inter-Factor Europa SA). These entities were incorporated within the Group during the acquisition of Crédit Lyonnais in 2003.
Banque Indosuez, however, didn’t appear in the country until 1980 when it opened a branch in Madrid. In 1994, just prior to its acquisition by Crédit Agricole, Indosuez had six entities in Spain: one branch office and five subsidiaries (Banque Indosuez España, Indosuez Capital España SA, Indosuez Capital Securities España, Indosuez Carr Futures España and Indosuez Fondos España).
Lastly, the Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole opened a representative office in Madrid in 1981 to take advantage of the agrifood trade flow. In 1990, the Group acquired Cofigasa, a consumer finance company. In 1996, Crédit Agricole acquired Banque Indosuez and consolidated its Spanish businesses. During the same period, Predica opened a branch office. In 1999, Sofinco set up in Spain and two years later, it was the turn of Crédit Agricole Asset Management (ancestor of Amundi). Other businesses then opened in the 2000s: Eurofactor in 2004 and CACEIS in 2005. In 2015, the private banking business opened under the name of CA Indosuez Wealth (Europe) Spain Branch (successor of the Spanish branch of CA Luxembourg).