French Banks and the Greek 'Niche Market' mid-1880s-1950s

摘要

This work about the Greek 'niche market' offers the opportunity to study the investment strategies of French banks in the Mediterranean. Of course the niche is a very small one, as Greece represented only 0.17 per cent of the world imports in 1913. Bonin is aware of this fact and emphasises that the Greek market is not of interest in its own right, but as a case study of the implementation of the niche strategies of French banks in general. The study region is not limited to the Greek state, the frontiers of which expanded during the period under examination, but extends to the whole of the Mediterranean where the Greek diaspora was active, including the Balkans, Asia Minor and Egypt, and regions which Greece 'was destined to acquire' (p. 355) like Salonika. The so-defined Greek market is assumed to have been seen as 'Eldorado' by French bankers since the mid nineteenth century (p. 42) in a phase of fast expansion of French financial interests in many parts of the world. The author shows little interest in foreign direct investment in the Greek economy. The investment projects of the Mines of Laurion, the Canal of Corinth or the Lake Copais Company are mentioned only very briefly. The same is true of the big infrastructural projects of the twentieth century like railway construction or the gas and water supply in Athens. The Greek state loans, many of which were issued also in Paris, are discussed in more detail. The role of the quartet Comptoir National d'escompte de Paris, Societe Generale, Credit Lyonnais and Paribas is analysed. Bonin's main focus, however, is on the Bank of Salonika (founded in 1888) and the Bank of Athens (1893), which became the 'godchildren' of the Societe General and Banque de l'Union Parisienne. Bonin describes the day-to-day activities of the two Mediterranean banks in great detail, using considerable material from French archives. He analyses their business investigating how far they were influenced by their French supporters and partners and why they were, became or remained attractive for the French banks. In this context the book offers rich statistical material concerning the development of the French-Greek trade relationships and business connections. However, concentration on the Bank of Salonika and the Bank of Athens often leads away from Greek state territory to the Ottoman Empire, the Balkans or the US. 'One is thus far from our theme of the "Greek niche"!'(p.188).