Banque de la Martinique

[1] The French law of 30 April 1849 that marked the end of slavery in France established (Article 7) "the compensation granted to the colonists following the liberation of slave labor" and stipulated that "One eighth of the portion relating to the colonists of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion will be taken to serve for the establishment of a loan and discount bank in each of these colonies."

The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée devastated the city of Saint-Pierre and destroyed the bank's head office building, even though its gold and cash reserves were left intact in the basement.

The bank lost its issuance privilege in the turmoil of World War II, when the Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer (CCFOM) was designated as monetary authority for the island and other French Caribbean territories on 1 July 1944.

In 1967, the Banque de la Martinique merged with its peer in Guadeloupe and with Union-Banque into the BDAF.

[3] In stages between 2014 and 2016, the BDAF was taken over by the Caisse d'Épargne Provence Alpes Corse (CEPAC), a cooperative member bank of Groupe BPCE based in Marseille, of which it became a fully owned subsidiary.