Crédit Municipal de Paris was previously known as Mont-de-Piété and it is Paris’s oldest financial institution. In fact, the house has been making use of pawnbroking since 1637.

A pawnbroker is a business that offers secured loans to its clients. The latter pledge valuable objects like gadgets or pieces of jewelry in exchange for a loan which represents 25 to 70% of the object's value on auction markets.

Crédit Municipal de Paris also operates as an auction house and a bank. The institution resides in Paris 4th arrondissement at 55 rue des Francs-Bourgeois. It has branches in various districts and the building is storage and an auction room.

Crédit Municipal de Paris was established in the Marais around the 18th century. Its main aim during that time was to compete with the neighboring usurers.

History of Crédit Municipal de Paris

During the early 19th century, the domination of pawnshops was granted by Napoleon and he established new branches to meet up with the growing demands of the population in Paris.

However the French society changed during the 20th century – the middle class had financial difficulties occasionally, and resorted to Mont-de-Piété – this slowly resulted to the popularity of the loan institution.

With the 24 October 1919 decree, Mont-de-Piété became Crédit Municipal de Paris and started developing its banking operations. Crédit Municipal de Paris is consequently under the 1984 Banking Act. The City of Paris, as its exclusive shareholder, was therefore responsible for managing the house.

Crédit Municipal de Paris officially reoriented itself in January 2005 by separating the local pawnbroking company from the banking sector. Therefore, the banking sector is managed by the CMP Banque subordinate.

The sector deals with savings and investment products, restructuring loans, social loans, bank accounts, treasury loans, etc. The main company deals with the traditional operations about artworks, such as pawnbroking, auctions, expertise, and conservation.

Crédit Municipal de Paris has been providing a personal microcredit program since October 2008 in the Île-de-France area – and operating with the community network, social services and also banks that are authorized by the Social Cohesion Fund.

An institution under ACPR regulation

Since the 1984 Banking Act, it has been a credit institution. Municipal Credit Banks can make financial transactions as credit institutions – receive funds and legal entities from people, offer a means of payment and make related transactions i.e. banking transaction with these individuals.

As defined by law, Crédit Municipal de Paris is a public credit and social aid institutions. Their main goal is to fight usury, through granting loans on substantial pledges. The Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) authorize and supervise their operations.