National banks and nation building in Latin America, 1870–1890

Abstract This article provides a comparative overview of the establishment and trajectories of a number of national banks in the early financial markets of various Latin American countries from 1863 to 1914. The main focus of the paper is on the trajectories of such financial institutions in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile between 1870 and 1890. Their organizational models and some of their strategies for expanding their businesses are described and compared. It is argued that these firms were among the largest established in the respective countries where they operated and combined private business with close collaboration with the respective governments in fiscal and financial transactions.