Cipaf

Compagnie Internationale de Participations Bancaires et Financires was established in Luxembourg in 1982 as a vehicle of General Mediterranean Holding SA for holding strategic investments and participations in the banking and financial sector. Having changed it status from a to a , Cipaf today ranks amongst Luxembourg's foremost investment companie... s in terms of equity and assets. At 31 December 2006, the company had total assets of 834 million with shareholders funds of 706 million. Since inception, Cipaf's focus has remained successfully on its core business. In close co-operation with the Paribas group, Cipaf jointly owned Banque Continentale du Luxembourg and Banque Paribas Luxembourg. After the disposal of these two investments, in keeping with its stated objective, Cipaf acquired Bank Companie Nord (BCN), an old established private bank based in Northern Germany, with a history extending over 100 years. Its activities comprise the full sphere of a universal bank providing a complete range of services to private individuals and to business, commercial, agribusiness and real estate customers. Until the merger of BNP and Paribas, the Cipaf group was one of the largest independent shareholders of Compagnie Financire de Paribas. Since the merger, it ranks amongst the topmost investors in the enlarged BNP Paribas, now a leading European banking group. Apart from investments in BNP/Paribas, Cipaf's participations include stakes in Jordanian financial institutions namely Union Bank for Savings & Investment, Housing Bank, and Jordan Kuwait Bank and in HSBC Holdings and Suez Canal Bank. Cipaf's portfolio, both direct and via its associate North Atlantic Continental Capital, NACO, consists of shares in corporations listed on the international capital markets.Read More