Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires

The Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires, also Simply called Banco Provincia, it is a public bank in Argentina. It was founded in 1822 and is the oldest bank in Latin America, issuer of the first national bill and check; and currently one of the most important in Argentina

History

On January 15, 1822, a meeting of neighbors was called in Buenos Aires to discuss the project of creating a bank. At that time, the Buenos Aires government was headed by Martín Rodríguez, with Bernardino Rivadavia, then Minister of Government, having considerable influence. This meeting was called and chaired by the then Minister of Finance Manuel José García. In it, it was decided to create the Bank of Buenos Aires, also known as the Discount Bank, which would be organized under the legal figure of a private limited company. On July 1, 1824, the Government contracted with the Baring Bank the loan for 1,000,000 pounds sterling, of which the Bank was the administrator. The 15% difference in placement represented 150,000 pounds, of which the consortium as a whole took 120,000 pounds as a commission, and the remaining 30,000 went to Baring, which would be pointed out as the origin of Argentina's external debt. As soon as the loan arrived, the money was given to the Discount Bank to be delivered as credits to its clients, at much lower interests than those the province paid for that money. Of the sum received, only 4% of what was agreed upon, 20,678 pounds, reached the Río de la Plata in gold, as agreed.

In particular, this bank, in addition to having printed the first Argentine national banknote, was also the first public limited company incorporated in Argentina. The shareholding composition of the society was varied, there were landowners, soldiers, clerics, professionals, Creoles, English, Spanish, French and Germans.

During its history the bank had different names and legal forms. As already mentioned, in 1822 it was baptized as Banco de Buenos Ayres, established as a private limited company, with promotion and sponsorship of the provincial government. Four years later, in 1826, it was restructured and renamed the Bank of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, although it was popularly called the National Bank, under the status of a mixed company with an attached Mint section.

On January 28, 1826, the General Constituent Congress of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, through a law signed by Manuel de Arroyo y Pinedo, then President of the Congress, established the "Regulations" #3. 4; for the establishment of the National Bank. Shortly afterwards, on February 2, the authorities of the Bank were established.

A decade later, in 1836, it came under the administration of the Board of Directors of Paper Money and the Metallic Mint, also known as the Provincial Mint, organizing itself as a mixed entity under state management, with banking section and banknote and currency department.

On July 5, 1856, the Banco de la Provincia was allowed to grant credits with a real guarantee on real estate. Thus, it became the first South American banking institution to grant mortgage loans.

The Pact of San José de Flores signed on November 11, 1859, frees the bank from paying all types of national taxes, the benefit lasts to this day and that is why it is the only banking entity in Argentina that does not levy VAT on its products and services.

The current name of Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires dates back to 1863, and the Headquarters of La Plata was incorporated after the city was founded in 1882.

On October 7, 1946, Arturo Jauretche assumed the presidency. His management was one of the most important in the history of the Institution. Faced with decree 11,554/46 of the government of Juan Domingo Perón, the province of Buenos Aires was in danger of losing its bank, at that time a mixed entity organized as a public limited company. The provincial governor, Domingo Mercante, resolved to nationalize Banco Provincia by purchasing the securities from private shareholders, which represented 50% of the issued capital. In this way, Banco Provincia became the public bank of the Buenos Aires State, a legal form that it maintains to this day.

In 2007 the bank presented the commercial titled "Don Luis y Perla", considered the first television advertisement broadcast in Argentina that positively presented a transvestite person.

Authorities

Main authorities

The highest authorities are Juan Cuattromo as president and Rubén González Ocantos as general manager.

Directory

The Board of Directors of Banco Provincia is made up of the president, vice president, director, secretary and directors, all of whom are elected by the provincial Executive Branch, and with the agreement of the provincial Senate can exercise their functions.

Currently Humberto A. Vivaldo is the secretary director, and Rubén González Ocantos holds the position of General Manager. The directors are Carlos Fernández, Alejandro Formento, Sebastián Galmarini, Laura González, Santiago Nardelli and Bruno Screnci.

Presidents