English Banks in South America
Although English interests have share holdings in other institutions, there are only five banks in South America that stand out as unmistakably British. In the order of their development, these are the London and River Plate, London and Brazilian, British Bank of South America, Anglo-South American Bank, and Commercial Bank of Spanish America. Each institution, with one exception, has concentrated on one country, in which it has established most of its branches and to which it has devoted its first efforts. The exception is the British Bank of South America, which has followed the contrary policy of having only a few branches strategically located in important cities; in other words, this bank has concentrated on selected cities rather than on a given territory.
ENGLISH TRADE AND BANKS DEVELOP TOGETHER
The development of commercial banking by British interests has everywhere gone hand in hand with the development of British investment and British trade. The accounts of the railways, mercantile firms, steamship lines, public utilities, and other enterprises conducted by their fellow countrymen form the great bulk of the business of the four leading institutions; the Commercial Bank of Spanish America is, however, operating under different conditions. Indeed, it may even be said—again speaking in broad terms—that the English banks have made comparatively little effort to secure the accounts of domestic enterprises. It is certainly safe to say that they have not made efforts in this field at all comparable with the efforts of the German, Spanish, French, and Italian banks. It is interesting to note also in this connection that the management and even the clerical force are, with few exceptions, brought over from England. After more than fifty years the three leading institutions remain as distinctively British as they were at the beginning.