EH.N: ANN: Destruction of Archives in French Banks

[Marc Flandreau]

Several weeks ago, we learned about destruction that has taken place at the Archives of BNP Paribas, a French bank successor to Comptoir d'escompte, France's first joint stock bank, created 1848 and Banque Paribas, an investment bank. On November 28, 2008, we warned people inside the banks' board of directors. We understand that, following this, announcements were made that the destruction was suspended. However, we have no formal proof of a definite interruption of this activity and have thus decided to broaden the campaign to make sure the widest number of people are aware. We have no idea why the destruction has taken place. A growing rumor suggests that this has to do with the World War II activities of the bank. The following letter has been sent and we believe that it is desirable to tell the broader community about what is going on.

Marc Flandreau

Geneva, December 4, 2008


Dear Mr Pebereau,

As you are probably aware, the Archives of BNP-Paribas have started 
major destruction of key historical material.

At that stage, part of Comptoir d'Escompte archive, including important 
files dealing with government loans are already gone.

We know from various sources including written confirmation by Pierre de 
Longuemar from BNP Paribas Historical Association, a copy of which we 
have seen, and a variety of other insider sources that other 
destructions are planned or underway, although Mr de Longuemar insists 
that he does not know the exact extent of these plans.
With material gone and material ready to go, entire parts of French, 
European and international financial and political history are about to 
be sent to the shredding machine.

The materials that have been destroyed, and those apparently scheduled 
for destruction, are an invaluable resource for current and future 
historians. They are part of our shared inheritance that happen to have 
been consigned to your bank's custody, but they belong to humanity.
We have no idea why these decisions were taken. They form a complete 
reversal of earlier policies by BNP-Paribas, which under your direction 
made sure that its archive was widely available to the largest public.
We urge you to suspend the destructions and appeal to your past 
experience of good relations with the academic community, as a teacher 
at Sciences Po where your contribution was appreciated, and member of 
the FNSP board, which we understand established your commitment to the 
relevance of research and higher education.

We also urge you to reestablish as soon as possible the free access to 
archival material that used to prevail in the past and has been 
discontinued recently. This decision we view as critical.
We will also be happy to meet you, in case you so desire, to pass on to 
you the international community’s extreme concern and state of shock.
Yours truly,

Professor Forrest Capie, Official Historian, Bank of England, United 
Kingdom
Professor Youssef Cassis, University of Geneva
Professor Roberto Cortes Conde, Member of the National Academy of 
Economic Science and History, Argentina, Emeritus Professor of 
Universidad de San Andres, Argentina, Honorary President of the 
International Economic History Society.
Professor Marcello de Cecco, Director, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, 
Italy
Professor Barry Eichengreen, George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee 
Professor of Economics and Political Science, Universoty of California 
at Berkeley, NBER and CEPR.
Professor Marc Flandreau, Graduate institute, Geneva, Professeur en 
détachement de l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, and President, 
European Historical Economics Society CEPR, London.
Professor James Foreman-Peck, Cardiff Business School, United Kingdom.
Professor Harold James, Princeton University, and Marie Curie Professor, 
European University Institute.
Professor Carlos Marichal, Centro de Estudios Historicos, El Colegio de 
Mexico.
Professor Manfred Pohl, European Association for Banking History, 
Frankfurt.
Professor Isabel Schnabel, University of Mainz, MPI Bonn, and CEPR
Professor Toshio Suzuki, Tohoku University, Graduate School of Economics 
& Management, Japan.
Professor Gianni Toniolo, Research professor of Economics and History, 
Duke University, USA, Professor of Economic History, Libera Universita` 
delle Scienze Sociali, Roma, Research fellow, CEPR, London.