Bank of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Native name
Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay
TypeState-owned
IndustryBanking
Financial services
FoundedAugust 24, 1896 (1896-08-24)
HeadquartersMontevideo, Uruguay
Area served
Uruguay
Key people
Salvador Ferrer (chairman, since 2020)
Websitebrou.com.uy

Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay (Spanish for 'Bank of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay') (also known as Banco República or BROU) is a state-owned national and commercial bank in Uruguay, founded in 1896 under the presidency of Juan Idiarte Borda.[1]

The most important Uruguayan bank with the largest number of customers,[2] it plays a dominant role in lending and deposit in the Uruguayan market. It currently has 124 branches throughout the national territory and 2 abroad.[3]

History

In the last decades of the 19th century, different social groups such as small merchants and public employees, who, in the framework of the Baring Crisis, demanded access to bank credit, so as not to resort to usury private banks and various lenders.[4] In the Agricultural Livestock Congress of 1895, the creation of a financial institution had been called for to provide agricultural credit, and to adapt the terms and conditions required for rural production.[5] The creation of the Bank was proposed by then Minister of Finance Federico Vidiella, was widely discussed in Parliament and in the local press, and on August 4, 1896, the law containing the thirty-four bases of the Organic Charter was promulgated.[6] On August 24, 1896, the bank's first board of directors was installed, and on October 22 it formally opened its doors, with 54 employees.[7] The first deposit account was made by President Juan Idiarte Borda.[8]

The Organic Charter granted the bank the power to issue banknotes —from 1907 it had a monopoly on it—. Over time, it developed a wide variety of activities, such as a commercial and specialized credit bank, a state bank and, gradually, the Uruguayan monetary authority.[9]

After the 1929 crisis, the Banco de la República became the key piece of economic policy. In the 1930s, the bank was restructured and divided into a Banking Department and a Currency Management and Money Supply Department. In 1941, the Board of Directors resolved to create the Department of Economic Research, thus perfecting the Bank's advisory role to government bodies.[4]

Due to the banking crisis that took place in the 1960s, the department in charge of currency management and money supply was separated from the institution and turned into a new entity, the Central Bank of Uruguay, created with the Constitution of 1967.[10]

Headquarters

The bank's headquarters are located in Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo.[11] The building, designed by the Italian architect Giovanni Veltroni in a neoclassical style, was built in 1866 to house the Italian Bank, and was later used successively by other banking institutions, such as Banco Unión, or by the Junta de Crédito Público and by Banco Nacional until its dissolution.[12]

Branches

As of February 2023 the bank maintained 124 branches throughout Uruguay and 2 overseas (Buenos Aires and New York City).[13]

Presidents of the Bank

List of the presidents of Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay before the creation of Banco Central del Uruguay.

Name Period Notes
Claudio Williman 01/05/1916 – 30/04/1928 [14]
Pedro Aramendía 01/05/1928 – 30/11/1928 [14]
Alejandro Gallinal 01/02/1929 – 30/11/1931 [14]
Javier Mendivil 01/12/1931 – 30/03/1933 [14]
José Serrato 01/04/1933 – 30/07/1934 [14]
Jorge West 01/08/1934 – 30/07/1938 [14]
Gabriel Terra 01/08/1938 – 30/06/1939 [14]
Vicente Costa 01/08/1939 – 31/05/1943 [14]
Alfredo Baldomir 01/06/1943 – 30/06/1946 [14]
Andrés Martínez Trueba 01/02/1948 – 30/06/1950 [14]
Alberto Fermín Zubiría 01/07/1950 – 30/11/1954 [14]
Francisco Forteza 01/06/1955 – 31/07/1958 [14]
Mario Fullgraff 01/08/1958 – 30/06/1959 [14]
Solano Amilivia 01/07/1959 – 30/04/1963 [14]
Francisco Podesta 01/05/1963 – 30/06/1964 [14]
José Pedro Aramendía 01/08/1964 – 30/04/1965 [14]
Julio Solsona Flores 01/05/1965 – 31/01/1967 [14]
Daniel H. Martins 03/03/1967 – 16/05/1967 [14]
Enrique V. Iglesias 16/05/1967 – 09/01/1969 [14]

References

  1. ↑ "Hace 125 años el presidente Idiarte Borda fundaba el BROU | La Mañana". 2022-08-08. Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ↑ "Banco República. Sucursal 19 de Junio | Intendencia de Montevideo". 2023-01-22. Archived from the original on 2023-01-22. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ "El Banco - BROU". 2022-03-12. Archived from the original on 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. 1 2 "Creación del banco - BROU". 2022-01-05. Archived from the original on 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ "Hoy se cumplen 105 años de la fundación del Banco República". LARED21 (in Spanish). 2001-10-22. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  6. ↑ "LA FUNDACIÓN SALUDA AL BANCO REPÚBLICA | Fundación Banco República". 2022-09-30. Archived from the original on 2022-09-30. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ↑ "BROU - Presentation of the Bank".
  8. ↑ "Monedas Uruguay - 100 Pesos Uruguayos 1996 Centenario del BROU". 2022-06-27. Archived from the original on 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ↑ "El Banco República y la era de José Batlle y Ordóñez". 2021-01-14. Archived from the original on 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ↑ "Páginas - 45 años del Banco Central del Uruguay". www.bcu.gub.uy. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  11. ↑ "DÍA DEL PATRIMONIO 2021 | Fundación Banco República". 2022-09-30. Archived from the original on 2022-09-30. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ↑ "La sede central del Banco República. Breve reseña histórica".
  13. ↑ "Sucursales y servicios - BROU". 2022-03-03. Archived from the original on 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2023-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Diego Aboal and Gabriel Oddone. "Reglas versus Discrecionalidad: La Política Monetaria en Uruguay entre 1920 y 2000" (PDF). Banco Central del Uruguay.
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