The Municipal Bank of Rosario (Spanish: ''Banco Municipal de Rosario'', BMR) is a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

in Rosario,

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Santa Fe,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Its central offices are located in the downtown area, on San Martín St., and there are several additional offices throughout the city. It is focused in small and medium enterprises and other organizations, especially through microcredits, and may be considered an "

ethical bank An ethical bank, also known as a social, alternative, civic, or sustainable bank, is a bank concerned with the social and environmental impacts of its investments and loans. The ethical banking movement includes: ethical investment, impact inves ...

"

The Municipal Bank was founded in 1896 to support the financial needs of the citizens and small businesses in the highly productive region of southern Santa Fe Province, centered in Rosario. At the time, the city had around 92,000 inhabitants and was already Port of Rosario, the most important port on the Paraná River. The idea of creating a municipal financial institution was expressed in 1893 by mayor Floduardo Grandoli, citing the proliferation of "centers of

usury Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is c ...

" that exploited those in need of credit, especially the poor (something not addressed by the profile of the Provincial Bank of Santa Fe, which granted loans only to demonstrably solvent persons). Acting on this, the municipal Counseling Commission passed a bill (on 1 February 1895) dictating an "Organic Charter of the Municipal Bank of Loans and Savings Accounts". The bank opened exactly one year later. The seat of the bank was moved in 1905. Its name was changed to its present form on 14 May 1940 by a municipal bill. Its location was moved again, and for the last time so far, in 1986. In 2006, after some political controversy, the bank was capitalized by the municipality in order to comply with new regulations dictated by the

Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

, and transformed into a joint stock company, with only 1% of the stock belonging to the municipal state. A special clause was added, dictating that this minimum share is unchangeable, so as to prevent hypothetical attempts at

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

The bank's mission focuses on the management of the finances of the municipal state and the support of the region's small and medium enterprises. At present, it offers loans for a variety of purposes, such as

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

, real estate operations, automobile purchases, and the installation of domestic natural gas lines; it finances the preservation of the architectonic heritage of the city through special loans devoted to the restoration of historical facades; and it offers several forms of insurance, credit cards, and other services. The bank also emits and sells the

magnetic stripe card The term digital card can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera, or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as a virtual card or cloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share ...

s used as pre-paid tickets for Rosario's urban bus system. Finally, it has agreements with clubs, unions, schools and other institutions. The associated Municipal Bank of Rosario Foundation organizes cultural activities and manages municipal events. Its professional specialist groups publish studies on a variety of topics (social, economic, ecological, etc.). The Foundation manages an Auditorium at the central offices of the bank, with a capacity of 250 people, which is available for conventions, lectures and film projections.

References

''Banco Municipal de Rosario''
— Official website. * La Capital, 5 February 2006
''El Banco Municipal cumplió 110 años''
* Howard Richards, Professor of Peace and Global Studies
''Articulación del Sector Publico con el Sector Privado: El Círculo Virtuoso en Rosario, Argentina''
* ''Is it travel?'' blog, 20 April 2005

{{Argentine Banks Banks of Argentina Rosario, Santa Fe Banks established in 1896