Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL, french: Banque Bruxelles Lambert) was a Belgian

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

that was created through merger in 1975 and became part of

ING Group The ING Group ( nl, ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale bankin ...

in 1998. It provided retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in Belgium, together with related financial products such as insurance and asset management. It was formed by the merger of two existing Belgian banks ''Banque de Bruxelles'' and ''Banque Lambert'' in 1975 making it at that time the second largest Belgian bank. It was sold to ING Group in 1998 who renamed the subsidiary in 2002 ING Belgium.

History

Banque de Bruxelles

Banque de Bruxelles was founded in 1871 and grew steadily over the ensuing six decades, acquiring interests in other banks in Belgium's major cities. In 1931, these interests were combined in a single business which operated in traditional banking and in the management of industrial concerns based mainly in Belgium and Africa. Following the reform of the Belgian banking sector in 1934–35, the commercial banking activities were transferred to a new company formed on 30 January 1935 under the same registered name. As required by the reform, this transfer separated the banking and holding company functions.

Banque Lambert

Banque Lambert had its origins in the banking house founded by the Lambert family, financiers in Belgium since the country's independence in 1830. After 1945, Banque Lambert rapidly developed its services and network, notably through the merger of a number of privately owned banks.

Merger

What had been planned as an absorption of ''Banque Lambert'' by the ''Banque de Bruxelles'' became a merger in 1975, with Banque Lambert headed by Baron Leon Lambert having a position of strength? This was after Banque de Bruxelles was hit by a loss of several billion Belgian francs after one of its traders took a position that went wrong.

Take over

The bank was purchased by the Dutch ING Group in 1998 and subsequently renamed ING Belgium.

Headquarters

The headquarters of BBL (now an office of ING Group) was the Bank Lambert building on Marnixlaan 24, Brussels. This

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

building was the only European building designed by the American architect

Gordon Bunshaft Gordon Bunshaft, (May 9, 1909 – August 6, 1990), was an American architect, a leading proponent of modern design in the mid-twentieth century. A partner in Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Bunshaft joined the firm in 1937 and remained with ...

making it one of the most important modernist architectural buildings in Belgium.

References

External links

* Banks of Belgium ING Group 1975 establishments in Belgium Belgian companies established in 1975 Defunct banks of Belgium {{Belgium-company-stub