Our History
The BNP Paribas Group is born of successive mergers between several banks that were created during the industrial revolution early in the 19th century. From the start, these banks’ missions were to finance the economy and serve their customers worldwide, with Norway being an important market ever since the start.
BNP Paribas, a friend walking hand-in-hand with Norway through the tides of time
Today, BNP Paribas is the global bank with the strongest presence on the ground in Norway. Through our local relationship management teams we offer our clients a wide range of services, helping them through their whole financial situation. We have been active in Norway for over 120 years, and many of the client relationships that we had from the start are still with us until this day.
The tale of BNP Paribas and Norway goes back all the way to the 1880’s, with a focus on trade, financing industries and government bonds. The history is rich and eventful with many interesting highlights to say the least. Re-live a century of BNP Paribas history with a flashback on highlights in the timeline below.
1905 – BNP Paribas – a part of the pioneering industrial era
The striking year for our history in Norway is 1905 when Banque de Paris et des Pays Bas (Banque Paribas) co-financed the creation of Norsk Hydro (Norsk Hydro-Elektrisk Kvælstofaktieselskab). Norsk Hydro played a key role in the industrial development of Norway throughout the 20th century, and over time it expanded into new business areas such as aluminium and oil & gas. In 2004 the fertilizer segment was listed as a separate company named Yara, while their O&G activity was merged with Equinor in 2007.
The stock certificate below, from Det Norske Nitridaktieselskab, is proof of the big importance nitrogen and nitrate production played during this period. These were booming industries in early 20th century Norway, thanks to the abundant hydroelectric power. The stock below is part of the pioneering industrial era of Norway when it was developing large-scale hydroelectric and chemical industries.
It is a prime example of how Norway leveraged its natural resources – particularly hydropower – to generate industrial growth and economic development.
Early 1900s and the fight against famine
BNP Paribas co-financed the creation of Norsk Hydro upon establishment in 1905. The mission of Norsk Hydro was groundbreaking at the time: to create mineral fertilizer from nitrogen extracted from the air. At that point in time crop yields were low, and food supply could not keep pace with growing populations. This invention was pivotal in combating global food insecurity in a world where famines and agricultural crises was everyday life.
Norsk Hydro used the Birkeland-Eyde process, which employed hydroelectricity to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, and was the first industrial-scale method ever invented. Hydro’s innovation helped avoid food shortages that could have led to widespread famine, especially in regions prone to poor harvests.
In 2004 the fertilizer business of Norsk Hydro was listed as a separate company named Yara, but its legacy as a pioneer in combating hunger goes back over a century. Yara remains one of the largest fertilizer producers in the world, still dedicated to sustainable agriculture and food security.
1919 – The close relationship between France and Norway
BNP Paribas have always had a very close collaboration with the French Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, which was created in 1919 by leading Norwegian businessmen who shaped Norway, such as Fred Olsen and Johan Steen.
20 French and Norwegian merchants gathered in Christiania on August 20, 1919 and founded the French-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce. Johan Steen became the first chairman. Since the establishment, 2 committees were created: the first one to promote and assist export from Norwegian companies to France and the second one to assist export and establishment of French companies in Norway.
One of the key figures in the French Norwegian Chamber of Commerce was former employee at Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas Jacques Allier, who was President of the French-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce for seven years, 1960 to 1967. Learn more about the interesting life of Jaques Allier in the section below.
1940 – Jacques Allier, banker in the ‘secret war’
A graduate of the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques, with a doctorate in Law, Jacques Allier joined the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas in January 1923 and began work in the office of Louis Wibratte, head of the technical department. Some years later, having risen to become an authorised signatory of the bank he was inter alia entrusted with handling relations with the Norsk hydro-elektrisk Kvælstofaktieselskab (Norwegian Hydro-Electric Nitrogen Company, also called Norsk Hydro).
In 1940, drawing on his business links with Norway, Jacques Allier took part in one of the most exciting episodes of the secret war in Europe: the race for heavy water.
Norsk Hydro had for several years been producing deuterium oxide – generally known as ‘heavy water’ – for use by laboratories researching into cancer. In 1939, Professor Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Director of the nuclear chemistry laboratory at the Collège de France, demonstrated that heavy water could be used as a neutron-moderator in the process of unleashing atomic energy. During the following months, France and Germany became locked in a relentless struggle to get their hands on the stock of heavy water held by Norsk Hydro.
In February 1940, Raoul Dautry entrusted Jacques Allier with the task of secretly purchasing the available stock of heavy water (185kg), and transporting it to France. The Norsk Hydro General Manager, Axel Aubert, who was favourable to French interests, immediately accepted Allier’s offer. This is how the valuable product came to be shipped from Norway to France via Scotland under the noses of the German military and then, as the invasion progressed in June 1940, sent to safety in England. In December 1940, in Cambridge, two scientific colleagues of Joliot-Curie called Halban and Kowarski, who had been evacuated to England, proved for the first time that by using heavy water it is possible to obtain a nuclear fission chain reaction.
At the end of the war, Jacques Allier became Deputy Director (1945-1965) of the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, while at the same time acting as official representative at the French Atomic Energy Commission. He was also President of the Franco-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce from 1960 to 1967. He served as Vice Chairman of Norsk Hydro from 1959 to 1971, playing a decisive role in the signing of a contract with a French group which brought together French oil companies Elf-Aquitaine and the Compagnie Française des Pétroles to search for oil & gas in the North Sea. These connections enabled the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas to play a major role in the export credits granted for the development of the oilfields.
1985 – BNP Paribas becoming an official Norwegian bank
In 1985, a significant shift occurred in Norway’s financial sector: it became lawful for foreign banks to establish branch offices in the country. This change marked the liberalisation of Norway’s banking and financial regulations, aligning more closely with international trends toward deregulation in the 1980s.
This led to a more competitive banking environment, with increased access to international capital and financial products. It enabled foreign banks to enter Norway for the first time, reshaping the competitive landscape and setting the stage for the years that followed.
