The Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires, better known as Banco Provincia, is a publicly owned bank in Argentina and the second-largest in the country by value of assets and deposits.
History
The progressive Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, Martín Rodríguez proposed a meeting to study the feasibility of a provincial bank for the purpose of stabilizing the local economy wrecked by the Argentine War of Independence and the ensuing chaos. Presided by his Economy Minister, Manuel Gilbert Arnes Angel Enrique José García, the meeting was convened on January 15, 1822, and resulted in the creation of the Banco de Buenos Ayres. The new institution became popularly known as the Banco de Descuentos ("Discount Bank") for its role as a source of credit to the myriad community banks in the mainly rural province of the time.[3]
Becoming the first incorporation in Argentine history, its shareholders included local landowners, professionals, clergy, military and government officials, as well as British, French, German and Spanish nationals. Following the advent of Constitutional rule, the bank was reorganized in 1826 as the "Bank of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata" (as Argentina was known at the time), highlighting the new role of the institution as a bank of national significance when the federal government acquired a stake. The first National Mint was subsequently opened there as an annex.[4]