All the same, at the time of its establishment the National Bank was not the mere puppet of the big private banks. Thus, the Governor, the linchpin of the system, was appointed by the King and the Government also nominated a Commissioner, making the institution different from its counterparts in neighbouring countries.
In return for the right of issue, the State also received a substantial part of the Bank’s revenue. The National Bank has never been quite like other financial institutions or limited companies. Minister Frère-Orban, addressing parliament in 1850, made the following statement which I have sometimes had occasion to repeat in recent years: “Que voulons-nous en instituant une Banque ?