Jean-Louis Duplat

Jean-Louis Duplat was a Belgian judge and lawyer.

Life and career

Born in Uccle on 30 May 1937, Duplat was the son of lawyer Jan Duplat and Yvonne Colson, and grew up in a bilingual Dutch-French household. From 1957 to 1960, he studied at the Université de Namur and the Catholic University of Louvain, where he earned his Doctor of Laws. In 1960, he joined the and joined the public prosecutor's office. In October 1974, he was appointed to the, where he headed the financial section of the public prosecutor's office. In 1978, he was named president of the Commercial Court, a position in which he rejected a bid by Carlo De Benedetti for a hostile takeover of the Société Générale de Belgique worth 20 billion Belgian francs.
In 1989, Duplat succeeded Walter Van Gerven at the presidency of the Belgian Banking Commission, dealing with important cases such as the takeover of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits by Accor, the tender offer for Bank Brussels Lambert, and ABN AMRO's takeover of the Générale de Banque. He was succeeded by Eddy Wymeersch in 2001. After his time on the court, he held various board positions, including at Omega Pharma and Brantano Footwear. He also taught business law at the Université de Namur until 2005. In 2007, he succeeded Daniel Cardon de Lichtbuer as president of Child Focus, and was replaced by in 2016.
Duplat died in Sint-Genesius-Rode on 9 January 2026, at the age of 88.