The National Bank of Haiti (french: Banque Nationale d'Haïti) was a French bank founded in 1881 by

Crédit Industriel et Commercial The Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC, "Industrial and Commercial Credit Company") is a bank and financial services group in France, founded in 1859. It has been majority owned by Crédit Mutuel, one of the country's top five banking groups, s ...

and headquartered in Paris to serve the Haiti indemnity obligation. It had a monopoly of currency issuance in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, by concession from the Haitian government.

Antoine Simon Antoine Simon (1736 – 28 July 1794) was a shoemaker at Rue des Cordeliers in Paris and a member of the Club of the Cordeliers, representative of the Paris Commune. He was born in Troyes, France to François Simon and Marie-Jeanne Adenet. On 3 ...

closed it in 1910, and it was succeeded by the

National Bank of the Republic of Haiti The Bank of the Republic of Haiti (french: Banque de la République d'Haïti; ht, Bank Repiblik Ayiti; BRH) is the central bank of Haiti. It was formed in 1979 from the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti (french: Banque Nationale de la Répub ...

, also established in Paris.

Overview

The National Bank of Haiti was conceived in the final stages of reimbursement of the notorious Haiti indemnity obligation that arose in the aftermath of the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...

. It was the brainchild of President of Haiti

Lysius Salomon Louis Étienne Félicité Lysius Salomon (June 30, 1815 – October 19, 1888) was the President of Haiti from 1879 to 1888. Salomon is best remembered for instituting Haiti's first postal system and for his lively enthusiasm for Haiti's moderniz ...

, who in 1880 promoted the legislation (law of ) which created a 50-year concession for currency issuance and management of the country's finances.

(CIC), a French bank that had made a large loan of 36 million French Francs to Haiti in 1875, formed the National Bank in Paris in May 1881, and appointed Ernest Lehideux as its first president. In Paris, the bank was headquartered at 49, , not far from the seat of CIC which at the time was at 66,

rue de la Victoire The rue de la Victoire is a street in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The former name of the street was "rue Chantereine", which means "singing frogs", after the many frogs in the area as the quarter was swampy. The street took the name "rue de l ...

. For its main branch in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, it built a neoclassical building that was later used by the

. The bank's creation ostensibly facilitated the full repayment of the Haiti indemnity, for which the last payment was made in 1883. However, the operations of the National Bank were a matter of controversy in Haiti, not least because of its aggressive charging of fees and repatriation of profits and dividends to France. Thus, the initial hopes that it would be an instrument of Haitian financial independence were quickly dashed. Haitian statesman

Frédéric Marcelin Frédéric Marcelin (1848–1917) was a Haitian writer and politician. Born in Port-au-Prince, Marcelin was best known for the three novels ''Marilisse'' (1903), ''La Vengeance de Mama'' (1902), and ''Thémistocle Epaminondas Labasterre'' (1901). ...

was a prominent critic and in 1890 wrote an essay to denounce the bank's extraction of Haiti's riches and lack of positive contribution to the country's economic development. In October 1910, Haitian President

revoked the National Bank's concession, ending its activity. He granted the concession for currency issuance and government treasury operations to the newly formed

, also established in Paris at 55, , whose initial majority shareholder was the

Banque de l'Union Parisienne The Banque de l'Union Parisienne (BUP) was a French investment bank, created in 1904 and merged into Crédit du Nord in 1973. History Société Française et Belge de Banque et d'Escompte From its inception, the Société Générale de Belgique ...

Notes

Banks of Haiti Defunct banks of Haiti Economic history of Haiti Defunct banks of France {{bank-stub

Overview

See also

Notes