History of the Portuguese Banking System (Vol. I)

Sinopse

From the First Portuguese Bank to the Bank of Portugal’s Role as Central Bank – 1822-1931
Coordenação – Nuno Valério

“This volume traces the evolution of the Portuguese banking system from the foundation of the first Portuguese bank – the Banco de Lisboa (Bank of Lisbon), which started its activity on 21 August 1822 – to the date when the Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal) assumed the role of central bank, on 1 July 1931, as authorized by Decree with force of Law No. 19969 on the 9th of June of that year.
The book is divided into three chapters that reflect three distinct eras in the history of Portuguese banking:
1) the first, from 1822 to 1854 – a period during which the most important Portuguese banks operated on the basis of State-granted privileges;
2) the second, from 1854 to 1891 – decades marked by a regime of wide-ranging freedom in banking operations;
3) the third, from 1891 to 1931 – an era in which the Bank of Portugal tended to dominate the country’s banking life.
Each of the three periods is analyzed with regard to banking at the European and World levels, the Portuguese political, economic and monetary background, the main facts concerning the evolution of Portuguese banking and its impact on the Portuguese economy and society in general.
The study of Portuguese banking has advanced a great deal since the synthesis presented in Reis (1994a). This progress, however, was not enough to allow the present book to be a mere up-date of received knowledge; it must aim also to prepare the ground for analytical work that may set the basis for a new synthesis in the future.” in Introduction