Banque nationale de Belgique / Nationale Bank van België

The National Bank of Belgium was set up in 1850 as a public limited company (naamloze vennootschap) controlled by the Belgian government and based in Brussels. The institution maintains close ties with the Belgian government and the Ministry of Finance, although it enjoys a high degree of autonomy due to its legal personality. 

The reproduction of records is subject to the conditions and rates applicable in the State Archives. If a document may not be reproduced, this will be communicated to the screen when requesting the archive number. 

The various archive series were kept in the premises of the various departments of the National Bank until after World War II. They moved with these departments in 1868 from the buildings at the corner of Rue Royale and Rue Apricot (today's Rue de la Monnaie) to the new building complex on Rue du Bois Sauvage. This may explain some of the gaps observed However, it is not clear whether the archives of the National Bank of Belgium were transferred to London during World War I or remained in Brussels, occupied by German troops. Nor is it known whether (part of) the archive was moved to Mont-de-Marsan in southern France for several months together with the institution's administration at the outbreak of World War II. After World War II, the archives were transferred by the various departments to the institution's newly established archives department and kept in an annex to the bank. Most of the archival documents were deposited by the National Bank of Belgium in 1963 to the General State Archives in fulfilment of the contract of 12 September 1962. As a result of this deposit, both the Kingdom's General Archives and the National Bank of Belgium's archives department drew up a brief transfer list, which lists the various series deposited by department. In addition, the archive also includes some records or series transferred at later times. Furthermore, the minutes of the Board of Directors from the period from 1 June 1909 to 23 September 1913, already mentioned in the 1962 contract but not yet transferred in practice, were not to be transferred to the State Archives until 1978. Concise transfer lists were also prepared for both these depositories. The extent of this archive is 362 linear meters. In this fonds we note a number of relevant series. The series of card indexes relating to various legal types of companies, kept as documentation, are relevant for economic history. See the card indexes for Personenvennootschappen met Beperkte Aansprakelijkheid (nos. 2004-2103, years 1920-1957), Naamloze Vennootschappen (nos. 2104-2156, years 1880-1957), and Coöperatieve Vennootschappen (nos. 2157-2176, years 1900-1957). The index cards refer to the information on the respective companies, published in the attachments of the Belgisch Staatsblad / Moniteur belge. The card indexes are ordered alphabetically and thematically (e.g. banks, insurance companies etc.). We also note i.a. the card index “NV’s onder Duitse controle tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog” (companies under German control during the Second World War) – see no. 2156. (This fonds is indirectly related to the Jewish population.) 

The National Bank holds a number of core competences: discounting and acquisition of commercial and government securities, trade in gold and silver, granting advances on gold and silver bullion and coins, redeeming securities entrusted to the bank, taking into custody of securities and receiving money on current accounts, and granting short-term advances on (state-)guaranteed values. 

The new deposit contract concluded between the State Archives and the State Archives in the Provinces, on the one hand, and the National Bank of Belgium, on the other hand, following the inventory of the archives in 2008, stipulates that consultation and reproduction of archival documents younger than 30 years require the express written permission of the National Bank of Belgium, while archival documents older than 30 years may be freely consulted, reproduced and lent. However, the legal provisions on the protection of privacy will always be taken into account. Specifically, the user is informed at the terminal screen, when making the request, which restriction applies and how exemption can be obtained.