Entre la Corona y la colonia: los orígenes de la banca comercial en Puerto Rico, 1877-1888

Abstract

This essay analyzes the reasons for the underdevelopment of the banking and finance sector in Puerto Rico during the Island‘s final years as a Spanish colony. The backwardness was evidenced by the absence of either commercial banks or banks of issue and the shortage of currency. An inefficient colonial administration by the Metropolis and the interests of the Spanish commercial elite in the Island are proposed as the reasons. The transformations brought about by the abolition of slavery and an international crisis in the 1870‘s induced changes in the attitudes of the relevant players. The establishment and initial steps of the first commercial bank, La Sociedad de Crédito Mercantil, in 1877, are analyzed as a significant case study within the Caribbean context.

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11721/1023