Belgium: The Big Get Bigger

The mighty Société Générale de Belgique, a supercombine that controls a fourth of Belgium's industry and half of the Congo's, is growing mightier still. Last week it announced that its Banque de la Société Générale, by far the largest bank in Belgium, would gobble up two other banks, the Banque d'Anvers and the Société Belge de Banque. The combine's banking subsidiary will thereby increase its deposits by nearly 20% to more than $2 billion.

An even more striking effect of the merger is that it will link la Générale with another Belgian...