In the early years of the bank the executives often had little formal education, but by the time of the Belle Époque (the period of peace and growing prosperity in Europe between 1890 and 1914) secondary education had become more common.
Alexis Rostand, head of the important branch at Marseille from 1876, became a director of the firm during the reconstruction of 1889, director-general from 1902 to 1908 and president from 1908 to 1919.