1952 — Several wealthy families, chief among them, the Egyptian Jewish Cattaui dynasty, and the wealthy Jewish banking Sassoon family from Aleppo established Banque du Caire (BC) as a private bank.
1957 — BC took over the Egyptian operations of Crédit Lyonnais and the Comptoir National d’Escompte de Paris (CNEP). which later became BNP Paribas, after the Egyptian government nationalized all French and English banks (and later all foreign banks) in the wake of the Suez crisis. The bank viewed this step as a major milestone in its growth. [2]
1963 — The Syrian government nationalized BC's branches there, incorporating them into Banque de l’Unité Arabe (Bank of Arab Unity; est. 1961).
1964 — BC absorbed Banque de l’Union Commerciale (ex Credit Orient).
1975 — BC contributed its five branches in Saudi Arabia to Saudi Cairo Bank for a 40% share, pursuant to Saudi Arabia's nostrification program. That same year, BC (51%) joined with Barclays Bank (49%) to form Cairo Barclays International Bank.
1977 — BC joined with Banque Nationale de Paris (a successor to CNEP) to form Banque du Caire et de Paris.
1978 — BC joined with several Korean banks and other investors to found Cairo Far East Bank. Korean Exchange Bank was the largest shareholder with 32% and other Korean banks held 17%. BC owns 19%.
1983 — Cairo Barclays International Bank changed its name to Banque du Caire Barclays International.
1988 — Saudi Cairo Bank required recapitalization following difficulties, including earlier unauthorized speculation in precious metals by senior management. BC's share position fell to 20%.
1997 — Saudi Cairo Bank merged with United Saudi Commercial Bank to form United Saudi Bank. BC's share position fell to 9.8%.
1999 — Ownership of Banque du Caire et de Paris became BNP 76% and BC 22%. United Saudi Bank merged into Saudi American Bank. BC established representative offices at Kyiv in Ukraine and Harare in Zimbabwe. Barclays increased its stake in Banque du Caire Barclays International to 60% by buying an additional 11% from Banque du Caire.
2000 — Barclays bought out Banque du Caire's stake in Banque du Caire Barclays International.