Banking in Cuba

This article discusses banking in Cuba and gives an overview of the recent past. For details on the Cuban economy in general, see "Economy of Cuba".

History

Following the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, the Cuban banking sector came under the control of the new regime. The new authorities famously appointed Che Guevara as President of the National Bank of Cuba ( _es. Banco Nacional de Cuba) in 1959. Guevara often retold the apocryphal story of how he gained the job at the bank; Fidel Castro had asked if there were an "economista" in the room and he had put his hand up - much to Castro's surprise. Guevara had mistakenly thought that Castro had asked for a "comunista". [Anderson, Jon Lee. "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life", New York: 1997, Grove Press, p. 453 ] Guevara's appointment seemed somewhat ironic, as he often condemned money, favored its abolition, and showed his disdain by signing Cuban banknotes with his nickname, "Che".

The 1990s saw the restructuring of the Cuban banking system, with new commercial banks created, and a new central bank, "Banco Central de Cuba" set up. The architect of this restructuring, Francisco Soberón, became the first president of the new central bank.

Central Bank of Cuba

The Central Bank of Cuba (Spanish: Banco Central de Cuba - "BCC") functions as the central bank of Cuba. The Cuban government set it up in 1997 to take over many of the functions of the "National Bank of Cuba". Since that time Francisco Soberón Valdés has served as the Bank's President. The President of the Central Bank serves "ex officio" as a member of the Council of Ministers of Cuba.

As with most Cuban government ministries, the Central Bank acts as both regulator and shareholder of much of the Cuban banking system.

Current system

Cuba has eight commercial banks,categorisable as follows:

Retail banks

* "Banco de Crédito y Comercio" (BANDEC)
* "Banco Popular de Ahorro" (BPA)
* "Banco Financiero Internacional" (BFI)
* "Banco Internacional de Comercio S.A. "(BICSA)
* "Banco Metropolitano S.A. "

Investment bank

* "Banco de Inversiones S.A."

Other

* "Banco Nacional de Cuba" (BNC)
* "Banco Exterior de Cuba" (BEC)

In addition, the "Havana International Bank" is registered in London.

Non-banking financial institutions

The Central Bank also regulates a number of other financial institutions, most notably:

* "Grupo Nueva Banca, S.A." (New Bank Group) - the principal shareholder of the following entities: Banco Internacional de Comercio, S.A., Financiera Nacional, S.A., Compañía Fiduciaria, S.A., InCreFin, S.A. It also holds 50.0% in the joint venture Financiera Iberoamericana, S.A. and 40% percent in Caribbean Finance Investments Ltd. (CariFin). [http://www.bc.gov.cu/English/financial_institutions.asp#GNB Central Bank website - retrieved 13 December 2006]
* "Casas de Cambio, S.A." (CADECA), formed in 1994, this company operates money-exchange kiosks

ee also

* Cuban peso
* Cuban convertible peso

References

External links

* en icon [http://www.bc.gov.cu/ Central Bank of Cuba website]
* [http://www.ghidelli.net/scripophily/cuba.html a Swiss website about the former Banco Nacional de Cuba and the "Dance of the Millions"]