Our history

Our Group can trace its roots in the Gulf to the mid-20^th century, specifically 1949, when one of our ancestors, the Banque de l'Indochine, opened a branch in Jeddah. 

We expanded our presence in the Gulf in the 1970s to support the development of this fast-growing region. 1974 saw a new Banque de l'Indochine office open in Dubai, an emirate already highly active in redistributing goods and oil in the Gulf. 

Then in 1976, a new branch was opened in the emirate of Sharjah by Banque Indosuez, created from the merger of Banque de l’Indochine and Banque de Suez et de l’Union des Mines, both owned by Compagnie Financière de Suez. 

In 1980, all of these developments were affected for more than a decade by the conflicts destabilising the whole of the Middle East. The Sharjah branch was transferred to Abu Dhabi at the start of this turbulent period in 1981. 

Banque Indosuez maintained its presence in the Emirates during the 1990s through the two locations while also holding a major stake in the Banque Française de l’Orient. 

After being incorporated into the Crédit Agricole group in 1996, Banque Indosuez turned these offices into "Crédit Agricole Indosuez Gulf" in 1997, and the Banque Française de l’Orient became a consolidated subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Indosuez in 1999. 

Today, all of Crédit Agricole group's wealth management resources are gathered under the unified Indosuez Wealth Management brand.