Société Générale Morocco
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Saham Bank (formerly known as Société Générale Maroc, or Société Générale Marocaine de Banques — SGMB), is a commercial bank headquartered in
Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
, Morocco. It was originally established in
1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...
as the Moroccan subsidiary of the French banking group
Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English-speaking countries as SocGen (), is a French multinational universal bank and financial services company founded in 1864. It is registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby i ...
. On , Société Générale announced the sale of its 57.7% stake in SGMB to the , owned by Moroccan businessman Moulay Hafid Elalamy, including its insurance arm ''La Marocaine Vie'', for €745 million. The rebranding to Saham Bank was made official on .


Overview

Société Générale began its Moroccan operations in
1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...
, opening branches in
Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
and
Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...
shortly after the establishment of the
French protectorate in Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco, also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco that lasted from 1912 to 1956. The protectorate was officially established 30 March 1912, when List of rulers of Morocco, Sultan ...
. In 1923, its Moroccan headquarters were moved from the ''rue des Consuls'' in Rabat to a newly constructed building on the prominent , designed by French architect Edmond Gourdain. The bank's Casablanca network expanded to 7 branches by 1939 and 22 by 1950, alongside new locations in
Kenitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...
and
Meknes Meknes (, ) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravids as a military settlement, Mekne ...
. In 1965, SGMB took over the Moroccan operations of
Société Marseillaise de Crédit Société Marseillaise de Crédit (SMC) is a bank in France. History The Société Marseillaise de Crédit was created in 1865 by Joseph Grandval, Victor Roux, Albert Rostand and Armand Bergasse.
and began further expansion. In 1971, it acquired 20% of the activities of the ''Société de Banque du Maghreb'', the Moroccan branch of the former
Crédit Foncier d'Algérie et de Tunisie The ''Crédit Foncier d'Algérie et de Tunisie'' (, , abbr. CFAT) was a French colonial bank. It was originally founded in 1880 as the ''Crédit Foncier et Agricole d'Algérie'' (CFAA, ), an Algerian affiliate of Crédit Foncier de France, and ...
. The remaining assets were taken over by
Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur Bank of Africa (BOA) is a Moroccan international financial services group headquartered in Casablanca, Morocco. It was formed through the 2010 acquisition of Bank of Africa (est. 1982 in Mali) by the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur (BMCE, ...
(BMCE). In 1979, SGMB relocated its headquarters to a modern building at 55, Boulevard Abdelmoumen in Casablanca. During the 1980s and 1990s, the bank consolidated its position in both retail and corporate banking markets. From the early 2000s, it introduced a localized visual identity, featuring a red diamond and dotted square motif, before reverting in December 2007 to the global branding of the Société Générale Group with the signature red-and-black square logo. By the early 2020s, SGMB was Morocco’s fourth-largest bank, behind
Attijariwafa Bank Attijariwafa bank is an international financial services group headquartered in Casablanca, Morocco. Since its formation in 2004 by merger between Banque Commerciale du Maroc (in Arabic, ''bank at-tijari'') and Wafabank, it has been the leading ...
, the Banque Populaire Group, and
Bank of Africa Bank of Africa (BOA) is a Moroccan international financial services group headquartered in Casablanca, Morocco. It was formed through the 2010 acquisition of Bank of Africa (est. 1982 in Mali) by the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur (BMCE, ...
(formerly BMCE). On , Société Générale formally agreed to sell its majority stake in SGMB to Saham Group, marking its exit from the Moroccan retail banking market. The brand officially became Saham Bank on .


See also

*
List of banks in Morocco This is a list of commercial banks in Morocco, as published by the Bank Al-Maghrib in July 2021. List of commercial banks * Al Barid Bank, state-owned * , part of Arab Bank Group * Attijariwafa Bank * Banco Sabadell, part of Banco Sabadell Gr ...


References

Banks of Morocco Companies based in Casablanca Banks established in 1913 {{bank-stub