Belgian Banking Commission

As with most Belgian financial institutions, the commission was generally referred to by its French name in its first decades of existence, including in English-speaking contexts. As Belgian linguistic practices and sensitivities evolved in the postwar period, more emphasis was gradually placed on parity of status between French and Dutch. The acronyms CBF and CBFA were specifically construed so as to be identical in the two languages. ==Commission bancaire==

The Banking Commission was established in 1935, at the time one of the first independent banking supervisory agencies in the world - in other countries, to the extent that banking supervision existed at all, it was exercised either by a specialized office in the ministry of finance, or by an arm of the central bank. Under the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, a separate German-run Office of Banking Control operated in parallel with the Banking Commission, which was deprived of any authority over German banks operating in Belgium. The mandate of the commission was gradually broadened to control of mutual funds, then corporate securities offerings in 1964, holding companies in 1967, and private savings banks in 1975. ==CBF==

In 1990, the Banking Commission was renamed CBF (, ) as its duties were extended to more non-bank market segments. ==CBFA==

The CBFA was formed in 2004 by the merger of the CBF with Belgium's insurance supervisory authority OCA-CDV (, ), which had been created in 1975. ==2011 reform==

The crisis experience with Fortis Group and Dexia in 2008 led to the demise of the CBFA and a reform of financial supervisory architecture, enshrined in legislation of . As a result, Belgium adopted the so-called Twin Peaks model in which prudential supervision of banks and insurers is separated from the conduct-of-business supervision of a range of financial professionals, firms and markets. On , the CBFA's former prudential mandate went to the National Bank of Belgium, while its conduct-of-business supervisory duties went to the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA). ==Leadership==

• Georges Janssen, chairman 1935 - 1938 • Maurice Frère, chairman 1938 - 1942 • , chairman 1944 - 1973 • , chairman 1973 - 1974 • Jean Godeaux, chairman 1974 - 1982 • Walter Van Gerven, chairman 1982 - 1988 • Jean-Louis Duplat, chairman 1989 - 2001 • Eddy Wymeersch, chairman 2001 - 2007 • , chairman 2007 - 2011 ==See also==