Since the Bank was founded in 1845, it has considerably expanded its business in the Canton, mainly through organic growth. In the 1990s, however, the banking industry in Vaud underwent major consolidation. BCV acquired Banque Vaudoise de Crédit in 1993 and merged with Crédit Foncier Vaudois in 1995. From 1996 to 2000, we moved to diversify our operations, particularly in international trade finance, offshore wealth management, and trading. The result was a rise in total assets from approximately CHF 15bn at the beginning of the 1990s to over CHF 38bn in 2000.

In 2001 and 2002, substantial credit-risk provisions had to be created following an in-depth assessment of loan-book quality. This resulted in significant bottom-line losses in each of those two years, as well as a substantial decline in equity capital. Two recapitalizations, in 2002 and early 2003, were necessary to strengthen the Group’s capital base. The Canton provided most of the funds raised on both occasions.

At the end of 2002, Management defined a two-phase strategy for BCV, consisting of a strategic realignment on core businesses followed by a growth phase. Beginning in 2003, we successfully refocused operations on our four core businesses while remaining active in selected niche activities offering strong potential in terms of both growth and profitability.

From 2005 to 2008, we implemented the second phase of our strategy, the CroisSens growth project. This project aimed to lay the foundations for sustainable growth and to increase business volumes by taking advantage of our unrivaled presence in our local market, the Canton of Vaud. This project included the reorganization of our local distribution structure into nine regions in order to strengthen ties with customers. All of this has helped us enhance our brand image in our home region and gain momentum in our businesses.

In 2007 the Bank repurchased the final tranche of participation-certificate capital created in the 2003 recapitalization. On 15 April 2008, the Vaud Cantonal Parliament voted to authorize the Cantonal Government to reduce the Canton’s stake in our share capital to 50.12%. On 25 November 2008, however, the Cantonal Government announced that no shares would be sold before 2010. On 16 July 2010, it announced that it would not consider selling any shares before 2013.

On 8 December 2010, we announced the acquisition of Banque Franck Galland & Cie SA and our intention to merge that bank with Banque Piguet & Cie SA in the first half of 2011. The new entity will be called Piguet Galland & Cie SA. At end-2010, the two banks had combined assets under management of around CHF 8bn. Piguet Galland & Cie SA is expected to rank among the major private banks in French-speaking Switzerland.