the world of private banking

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THE WORLD OF PRIVAtE BANKING
and Britain was in deficit. This allowed the Paris market and banks which were
established there to play a privileged role in the negotiation of bills of exchange.
There remains little more to say. In credit deals and financial operations the
Mallets were at least as much, and undoubtedly more, involved with French than
with foreign business during this period. At this time the monetary requirements
of the French State were high, and those of some large French businesses (notably
the major railway companies) remained considerable. This relative preference for
French business by Mallet appears, in so far as it is possible to generalize, to have
typified all of the houses of the Haute Banque during this period. There were
without doubt houses which devoted themselves more to international trade, such
as de Neuflize (with acceptances representing 45 per cent of liabilities around
1860-5), or Hottinguer, who became involved under the Second Empire with
Crédit Foncier d’Autriche, with various metallurgical and mining businesses in
Spain, with Russian railways and a number of miscellaneous securities in North
America. Rothschild de Paris did better as always; having an unequalled network
of agents, it was deeply integrated into the international economy. They were also
to be found in all the major financial deals of the period concerning the loans
of numerous States, the launch of new railway companies, and in international
trade in tobacco, cotton, gold and already petroleum. They also had a very strong
position in the exchange market, and in their portfolio of bills of exchange,
which was worth a very considerable amount, foreign paper must have largely
predominated.
At the opposite extreme, many houses of the Haute Banque found themselves
less involved with the international economy, particularly among those which
belonged to Catholic families, generally of French origin. Even if their various
activities are badly understood, it seems correct to say that all were engaged in
the negotiation of bills of exchange and involved in major deals, in particular on
the Havre market. Firms such as Pillet-Will or Périer had less numerous and more
dispersed foreign agents, and they apparently only selectively participated in large
foreign deals. For example Périer was very involved with the sugar-refining industry
and coal extraction in France (they maintained close links with the coalmining
company at Anzin), having hardly any major liabilities beyond the national border
except with the Belgian company, de la Vieille Montagne. The case of Seillière
is not very different: certainly, following in the steps of Crédit Mobilier, it was
involved a little in the Imperial Ottoman Bank and in Crédit Mobilier Spain. They
also opened on their own account a Californian branch, entrusted to a certain Abel
Guy up until 1870, and in this they regularly invested between 2 and 4 million
francs. The rest of their balance sheet, which rose to around 32 million from 1858,
consisted mainly of the supply of wood and clothing to the French army and major
participation in French businesses (in Etablissements Schneider at Le Creusot,
wool mills) and in French railway companies: even if they ‘did not limit their
M. Lévy-Leboyer, ‘Le crédit et la monnaie’, in Histoire économique et sociale de la
France, vol. 3, 1789–années 1880 (Paris, 1976), pp. 347ff.