in 1958, Triolet in 1959, and Goodlands in 1963. Other branches followed. In 1960, MCB bank moved to the current location of its headquarters at Sir William Newton Street (at the time, Rue de l'Eglise). Mauritius achieved its independence in 1968. A regional leader MCB began its international expansion in 1991 when it opened representative offices in Paris and Antananarivo, Madagascar. Together with Crédit Lyonnais (40%) and Banque de la Réunion (a subsidiary of Crédit Lyonnais-25%), MCB (35%) established Banque Internationale Des Mascareignes, an offshore unit based in Mauritius. (In 1998 Crédit Lyonnais confirmed the transfer to Caisse d'Épargne Provence-Alpes-Corse (CEPAC) of its remaining shares (25.5%) in Banque internationale des Mascareignes.) The next year, MCB became the majority shareholder of Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien (BFCOI), which is registered in France, with the previous owner, Banque Indosuez, retaining an interest. BFCOI had branches in Réunion Island (9), Mayotte (4) and the Seychelles (1), and a head office in Paris. MCB also established Union Commercial Bank in Antananarivo. The original shareholders were MCB (70%), Standard Bank Investment Corporation Ltd (10%), BFCOI (10%), FIARO (5%) and Société Manofi (5%). By 2000, MCB's share ownership had risen to 79%. Currently, the bank has three branches. Then in 1992 MCB converted its representative office in Paris to a branch. In 1999 MCB established União Comercial De Bancos (Moçambique) in Maputo, Mozambique in partnership with BFCOI and Proparco. By 2000 MCB's shareholding was 76% as it had bought out Proparco's 18.75% stake. The next year, MCB acquired the minority stake Crédit Agricole Indosuez held in BFCOI, increasing its own stake by 22.22% to 88.88%. This followed the takeover of Banque Indosuez by the Crédit Agricole Group, which itself had operations in both Réunion and Mayotte in direct competition with BFCOI. MCB acquired the minority stake Crédit Agricole Indosuez held in BFCOI, increasing its own stake by 22.22% to 88.88%. This followed the takeover of Banque Indosuez by the Crédit Agricole Group, which itself had operations in both Réunion and Mayotte in direct competition with BFCOI. In 2003, MCB and Société Générale agreed that they would split the ownership of BFCOI. However, the agreement did not include BFCOI's operations in the Seychelles. MCB therefore incorporated a new fully owned subsidiary, Mauritius Commercial Bank (Seychelles) – MCB Seychelles – to take over BFCOI's operations there. Group reorganization Since its regional expansion, MCB operated as both a licensed