Annual report 2005 - Dexia.com

In October 1996, Dexia wasborn of the merger of CréditCommunal de Belgique and Créditlocal de France. That cross-bordermarriage between two banks, the firstof its kind in Europe, brought togethertwo establishments built on very differentindustrial models. Crédit Communalde Belgique (CCB), created in 1860to finance the local public sector, hadbecome an all-round bank over time bydeploying a network in Belgium for thegathering of deposits. For its part, Créditlocal de France (CLF), former subsidiaryof the Caisse des dépôts et consignationswhich was privatized in 1987, had asingle business line, providing local publicfinance. Those two operators were ofmedium size, compared at the timeto other major European banks, butfaced the same challenge: uncontestedleaders in public sector financing intheir respective countries, their onlyhope for growth was in increasing theirdomestic market to take on a Europeanscale. Rather than entering into directcompetition, anticipating the emergenceof the euro and a single financial market,CCB and CLF decided to join forces. ForDexia, the history of this first decadecan now be viewed as a developmentof that founding strategic choice: thoseten years have given the opportunity tobuild a genuine European banking group.It is a “group” because it is integrated,and not just a collection of entities andbusiness lines. It is a “banking” groupbecause today Dexia has all the attributesof a major bank of internationaldimensions. It is “European” becausemulticulturalism is at the very heart ofthe identity of this enterprise, now wellon the way to confirming its globalambitions.In Belgium, the building of the new Dexia toweris nearing the end. In September, about4,500 colleagues will be working there.