Banco Libano-Français (BLF, Arabic ：البنك اللبناني الفرنسي） Is A Lebanese Bank, Ranked 10th On The List Of Liban Banks. It Was Founded In 1967 And Is A Joint Stock Company. Its Headquarters Is Located In The Beirut Freedom Square Building In The Hamra District Of Beirut, Lebanon.
As Of The End Of December 2023, BLF Operates In Lebanon Through A Network Of 36 Branches, 1 Electronic Branch And 180 ATMs. Abroad, BLF Group Has Offices In France And Cyprus (Banque SBA), Switzerland (LF Finance Suisse), United Arab Emirates (representative Office In Abu Dhabi) And Nigeria (representative Office In Lagos). It Has 877 Employees, Including 799 Employed In Lebanon.
It Is Also Available Through Multiple Digital Channels, Namely The My BLF Mobile App.
Although It Has Historically Been A Commercial Bank, The Bank Has Diversified Its Operations And Now Offers Banking Services In Five Main Areas: Commercial Banking, Investment Banking, Retail Banking, Private Banking, Treasury And Capital Markets, And Correspondent Banking.
BLF Is Also A Member Of The Lebanese Banking Association.
History
- Banque Libano-Française (BLF) Was Founded In 1930 As A Branch Of The French Bank Compagnie Algérienne.
- In 1967, BLF Became A Bank Established Under Lebanese Law, With France Holding A 70% Stake.
- In 1970, Banque Indosuez Acquired A 5% Direct Interest In The Bank's Capital.
- In 1973, Banque Indosuez Increased Its Stake To 20% By Acquiring A Partial Stake In Compagnie Française De Crédit Et De Banque (formerly Compagnie Algérienne De Crédit Et De Banque), A Company Later Known As Parthena Investment.
- In 1992, Banque Indosuez Increased Its Shareholding Ratio In Banque Libano-Française To 51%.
- In 1999, BLF Acquired 100% Of Crédit Agricole Indosuez Liban (CAIL), A Financial Institution Group Specializing In Securities Brokerage And Portfolio Management.
- In 2004, Calyon Group Decided To Reduce Its Risk Exposure In Lebanon With A View To Implementing Basel II. As A Result, Calyon (formerly Crédit Agricole Indosuez) Reduced Its Shareholding Ratio In The Bank To 9%.
- In 2006, BLF Completed The Acquisition Of A 78.3% Stake In Banque SBA. The Bank Was Established In France (Paris). It Has A Financial Subsidiary Called LF Finance (Switzerland) SA In Geneva And A Branch In Cyprus (Limassol).
- In 2009, BLF Received An Official License From The Central Bank Of The United Arab Emirates To Establish A Representative Office In Abu Dhabi.
- In 2012, The Bank Strengthened Its Presence In The Middle East And North Africa Region By Opening A Representative Office In Lagos, Nigeria, And A Branch In Baghdad, Iraq.
- On September 1, 2014, Farid Raphaël, Founder Of Libano-Français, Passed Away As Chairperson And Managing Director In 1979.
- On September 15, 2014, Walid Raphaël Was Elected By The Board Of Directors As Chairperson, Managing Director Of The Bank.
- In 2015, The Bank Launched 5 New Non-life Insurance Plans In Partnership With Allianz SNA To Help Protect Its Customers From Various Risks.
- In January 2016, BLF Launched An International Architectural Competition To Build Its New Headquarters.
- In July 2016, It Announced Norwegian-American Studio Snøhetta As The Winner Of The Competition Selected By An International Jury.
- In 2017, The Bank Expanded Its Local Network To 58 Branches And Over 172 ATMs.
- In 2018, BLF Opened Two Branches In Kfarhbab And Tyre-Hoche, Expanded Its Local Network To 60 Branches And Over 181 ATMs, And Opened Its First E-branch In Mar Mikhaël.
- In 2019, The BLF Continued To Implement The Bank's Digital Strategy By Opening Another E-branch In Badaro, Launching The "My LTBY" App For Young People And Enhancing The "My BLF" Feature. In The Last Quarter Of 2019, The Bank Had To Deal With The Terrible Socio-economic Crisis That Hit Lebanon.
- In 2020, Banque Libano-Française Continued To Face The Terrible Socio-economic Crisis In Lebanon And Focused On Helping Customers And Employees Overcome Their Difficulties.
