Émile Moreau (banker)
Émile Moreau | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date France |
| Died | November 9, 1950 (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Years active | 1896–1940 |
| Known for | Governor of the Bank of France (1926–1930), Chairman of Paribas (1931–1940) |
Émile Moreau (29 September 1868 – 9 November 1950) was a prominent French banker who held the position of Governor of the Bank of France between 1926 and 1930, and later served as chairman of Paribas from 1931 until 1940. Following his tenure as governor, he transitioned into the private banking sector. Moreau was instrumental in the Poincaré Stabilization, which restored confidence in the French Franc during the 1920s after the financial turmoil caused by the Russian Default post-Bolshevik Revolution. His memoirs emphasize his initiatives to extend French financial influence throughout Eastern Europe, particularly through dispatching French financial advisors known as "Money Doctors" to Romania during his leadership period.
Finance Ministry
In 1902, Finance Minister Maurice Rouvier appointed Moreau to a significant advisory role. Throughout his career in the French civil service, he held several important positions: Inspector General of Finance starting in 1896, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Finance from 1902, and Director General of the Banque de l'Algérie. While at the Finance Ministry, he was responsible for overseeing an international organization tasked with managing First World War debt repayments.
Banque de France
During his governorship at the Banque de France (1926–1930), Moreau managed postwar economic challenges characterized by German hyperinflation and contentious reparations issues. He spearheaded measures to stabilize the Poincaré franc through practical devaluation strategies and secured international loans to protect it against fluctuations in exchange rates. A strong advocate for accumulating gold reserves, he also created a stabilization fund (fonds de stabilisation) to reinforce monetary policy frameworks. Moreau sought to elevate the Banque de France's status as a premier global monetary institution alongside counterparts such as the Bank of England and Reichsbank.
After retiring in 1930, he was succeeded by Clément Moret. Subsequently, in 1935, Moreau assumed the chairmanship of the State Bank of Morocco.
Further reading
- Accominotti, Olivier. “The Sterling Trap: Foreign Reserves Management at the Bank of France, 1928-19.” European Review of Economic History Volume 13, Number 3. 2009.
- Ahamed, Liaquat. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World. New York: Penguin Books. 2009.
- Moreau, Emile. "Souvenirs d'un Gouverneur de la Banque de France. Histoire de la stabilisation du Franc (1926-1928)." Paris: Editions Genin. 1954.
- Mouré, Kenneth. “The Gold Standard Illusion: France and the Gold Standard in an Era of Currency Instability, 1914-1939.” In Crisis and Renewal in France, 1918-1962, eds. Kenneth Mouré, Martin S. Alexander. New York: Berghahn Books. 2002.
- Mouré, Kenneth. “Undervaluing the Franc Poincaré.” The Economic History Review. Volume 49, Number 1. 1996.
- Yee, Robert. "The Bank of France and the Gold Dependency: Observations on the Bank’s Weekly Balance Sheets and Reserves, 1898-1940." Johns Hopkins University: Studies in Applied Economics. Number 128. 2018.