Banco del Estado de Chile

Banco del Estado de Chile or just Banco del Estado (In English: Bank of the State of Chile) is the only Public Bank in Chile and was created by government decree in 1953.[1] The bank also operates under the short name BancoEstado. It provides financial services to consumers and companies, with a focus on national coverage in terms of geography and social sectors and a particular emphasis on the unbanked and small and medium enterprises,[2] although it serves all types of businesses. In addition, BancoEstado performs all of the Chilean government's financial activities through a single account managed by the General Treasury of the Republic of Chile.

Headquarters of the Banco del Estado de Chile in Santiago.

The bank was created by Decree no. 126 of 1953, which merged the National Savings Bank (Caja Nacional de Ahorros), Mortgage Credit Savings Bank (Caja de Crédito Hipotecario), Agrarian Credit Savings Bank (Caja de Crédito Agrario) and Industrial Credit Institution (Instituto de Crédito Industrial) into a single institution.[1]

By the end of 2009, BancoEstado was the third largest bank in Chile, covering all areas of the country via branches or delegate banking contact points called CajaVecina (Spanish trade name roughly translatable as Neighbourhood Cashier). As of 2013, the bank had 345 branches, 96 smaller offices and over 11 thousand CajaVecina contact points.[3] Since 2012, Global Finance Magazine has ranked BancoEstado as the safest Bank in Latin America,[4] while in 2015 it was ranked as the 48th safest bank in the World (6th in the Southern Hemisphere).[5]

Legal framework

BancoEstado is regulated mainly by the provisions of the Organic Law of the Bank of the State of Chile (Ley Orgánica del Banco del Estado de Chile), which defines the bank as an autonomous state-owned company with separate legal personality and its own assets, supervised exclusively by the Bank and Financial Institution Board (Superintendencia de Bancos e Instituciones Financieras). The bank deals with the Government through the Ministry of Finance (Chile).

As a banking institution, BancoEstado is subject to the laws applicable to banks generally as well as those regulating the private sector as a whole, and thus is not governed by general laws and regulations aimed at the public sector.

Subsidiaries

The bank has several subsidiaries that complement its activities. Among these are the following:[6]

The bank also has a program known as "BancoEstado Cine" which since 2004 has supported Chilean film production.

Industry development

By a decision of the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism (Chile), BancoEstado's mission includes fostering the development of private companies. To this end the bank has created several programs, including:

References

  1. 1 2 Ministerio de Hacienda (1953-08-01), DFL 126 Crea el Banco del Estado de Chile, formado por la fusión de las entidades que detalla
  2. ↑ http://www.corporativo.bancoestado.cl/investor-relations/corporate-information
  3. ↑ http://www.corporativo.bancoestado.cl/Acerca-BancoEstado/historia
  4. ↑ http://www.bancoestado.cl/4D7C0958B08743978F98F8C184ABB2FA/58C2FE69408B4F95BBF3CFF004AD38D4/58C2FE69408B4F95BBF3CFF004AD38D4.asp
  5. ↑ https://www.gfmag.com/media/press-releases/global-finance-names-worlds-50-safest-banks-2015
  6. ↑ http://www.corporativo.bancoestado.cl/investor-relations/corporate-information/subsidiaries-and-afilliates

External links

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