The "Societe Generale" As A Pressure Group. A Case Study : The Real Estate Speculations Over The Brussels Court Of Justice, 1838-1840: In 1837, the "Société Générale", the biggest financial corporation of Brussels at the time, developped a huge project of real estate speculation : to have a brand new district of Brussels raised just outside town. A real estate partnership was duly established, including of course the partners and managers of the corporation. Most of them were people of the highest social ranks, some even were very influential politicians.