Banque Rothschild

Creation of Banque Rothschild

Following French government reform of banking regulations, de Rothschild Frères, (in the year in which the Paris bank celebrated the 150th anniversary of its foundation) became Banque Rothschild, a limited-liability company.

Banque Rothschild was created on 1 Jan 1968 as a limited liability company, functioning as a deposit bank. Guy de Rothschild was the Chairman, with Alain and Elie as vice-chairmen and their English cousin Evelyn de Rothschild (1931-2022) on the board.

In 1970 a new mutual fund ‘Rothschild-Expansion’ was created. In 1978 Guy’s son, David de Rothschild (b.1942) became general manager of Banque Rothschild, and Elie’s son, Nathaniel  (b.1946), also joined the bank. Guy retired in 1979, and was succeeded by Elie as chairman of Banque Rothschild. In 1980 Alain retired. By end of that year the deposits in the bank were 3.4 billion frs and ranked in top 15 French commercial banks, and the business employed 1,350 people.

Re-building of the rue Lafitte

It was a time of great change. In 1967 the decision had been made to rebuild the offices in the rue Lafitte, making way for a striking modern concrete building. Lilliane de Rothschild (1916-2002), wife of Baron Elie de Rothschild (1917-2007), was extremely knowledgeable about art, and had a flair for design, and she supervised the interior decoration in collaboration with Michel Boyer. At Easter 1970, the new modern bank building was inaugurated at 21 rue Laffitte, Paris, replacing the original buildings first occupied by James de Rothschild 150 years earlier.

Nationalisation of Banque Rothschild

Between 1981-1982, Banque Rothschild, was one of 39 to be nationalised by the French government, and the Rothschilds were obliged to leave the rue Laffitte. The Archive holds no papers relating to the nationalisation; for further information about the nationalisation see the published memoirs of Guy de Rothschild, Contre bonne fortune [The Whims of Fortune], (Pierre Belfond, Paris, 1983) (000/2727), and the article ‘Adieu Rothschild’ by Guy de Rothschild that appeared in Le Monde, 30 September 1981. (000/2032/3).