The Bank of the Province of Buenos Ayres.—There is in the Argentine another important financial house: the Banco de la Provincia de Buenos-Aires, which has lately re-arisen from its ashes, by the aid of the Banco del Comercio Hispano-Americano. This also was a victim of all kinds of abuses, committed to its detriment, by the administrations which successively directed it.
The bank was reorganised in June 1906, with a capital of £1,760,000, of which sum half was furnished by the Government of the Province and half by the shareholders, with the proviso that this capital might be increased to
£4,400,000, which was done at the end of 1908. According to the business done by this bank from 1906 up to the present time, we may predict for it a great future, provided that its presidents, learning from the past, guard it resolutely from the influence of political struggles and the demoralising factions from which it has suffered in the past. The new establishment enjoys all the prerogatives, exemptions and privileges which were accorded to the old bank; it is the obligatory receptacle in which are deposited, gratuitously, the funds of the provincial administrations and the courts.
The most delicate point in this conjunction, namely, the manner in which the administration of the bank should be conducted, has been so determined as to assure the preponderance of the private interests of the shareholders of the bank over the official interests of the Government. The administration of the bank is confided to a council, composed of a president appointed by the Government of the Province of Buenos Ayres, and twelve directors, four of whom are nominated by the Government and eight by the private shareholders; an arrangement which constitutes an excellent guarantee of proper management.
From the balance-sheets of the last three years, and the figures contained in the reports of the directing board, or Council of Administration, we may judge the activity displayed by this bank, and the progress realised since its re-establishment.
Here, for example, are the amounts of the deposit accounts as taken upon the 31st of December of each year, from 1906 to 1908 inclusive, as well as the bills in hand and the overdrafts on current accounts.
| Year. | Deposits. | Bills in Hand. | Overdrafts on Current Accounts. | |
| Paper.[91] | Gold. | |||
| 1906 | £4,610,309 | £179,431 | £3,419,809 | £467,342 |
| 1907 | 4,920,561 | 396,108 | 3,953,903 | 565,670 |
| 1908 | 5,716,441 | 409,690 | 4,785,044 | 477,310 |
[91] Actual value in gold.
The extensive business done by this bank, which is evident from the preceding figures, has produced considerable profits, which amounted to £109,298 in 1906; £220,551 in 1907; and £246,884 in 1908.