Crédit Foncier de France (, CFF) was a major French bank, active from 1852 to 2019 when its activities were entirely subsumed into

Groupe BPCE BPCE (for Banque Populaire Caisse d'Epargne) is a major French banking group formed by the 2009 merger of two major retail banking groups, Groupe Caisse d'Épargne and Groupe Banque Populaire. As of 2021, it was France's fourth-largest bank, the ...

, although the brand name appears to remain active.

History

The Crédit Foncier (English: landed credit) initially made loans to

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

. The movement was initiated by

Louis Wolowski Louis-François-Michel-Reymond Wolowski (original ''Ludwik Franciszek Michał Reymond Wołowski''; 31 August 1810 at Warsaw – 15 August 1876 at Gisors, Eure) was a Polish writer on economics and politician, naturalised in France. Life His ...

and Count Xavier Branicki, and sanctioned by Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

in 1852 in an attempt to modernize the medieval French banking system and expand French investment outside Europe. Its name became the "Banque Foncière of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

". Similar institutions at

Nevers Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the pr ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

were amalgamated into one under the title of "Crédit Foncier de France". The amount of the loan could not exceed half of the value of the property pledged or hypothecated, and that the repayment of the loan was by an

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

, which included the interest and part of the principal, terminable at a certain date. The Crédit Foncier had a monopoly on mortgages. In French banking terminology, a "credit foncier loan" typically refers to a loan for a fixed period with regular repayments where each repayment includes components of both principal and interest, such that at the end of the period the principal will have been entirely repaid. This is to be contrasted with an

interest-only loan An interest-only loan is a loan in which the borrower pays only the interest for some or all of the term, with the principal balance unchanged during the interest-only period. At the end of the interest-only term the borrower must renegotiate anot ...

where the repayments are of interest only. On 26 June 2018 it was announced that the organisation was to be closed, and its activities integrated into BPCE. The brand appears to remain active.

Former headquarters

The Crédit Foncier used to be headquartered in a prestigious building complex that included the former on

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as the Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as the Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madelein ...

, and the on rue des Capucines as well as a number of adjacent constructions. Crédit Foncier moved into the Hôtel Castanier as early as 1854, had it remodeled by architect

Antoine-Nicolas Bailly Antoine-Nicolas Louis Bailly (6 June 1810 – 1 January 1892) was a French architect. Life Born in Paris as the son of a postal official and the eldest of eleven children, Bailly entered the ''atelier'' of architect François Debret and ...

, and expanded into the Hotel d'Evreux in 1896. The property was sold by Crédit Foncier to the Thani family of Qatar in 2003 for 250 million euro, and was comprehensively renovated from 2009.

References

Crédit Foncier website
* *

External links

* * Defunct banks of France Banks established in 1852 French companies established in 1852 Banks based in Paris BPCE {{France-bank-stub