German overseas bank

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Share of the Deutsche Ueberseeische Bank for more than 1000 marks from January 1912

The Deutsche Ueberseeische Bank (until 1893 Deutsche Uebersee-Bank) (DUB), Berlin , was founded on October 2, 1886 by the Deutsche Bank as a specialist bank for business with America .

Foundation and first presence in Argentina

The bank was founded in the early days , not without an impetus from the imperial government , which was aimed at breaking through the British quasi-monopoly in trade with the double continent. After setting up a representative office for DUB in London, the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank under Adalbert Delbrück soon seems to have realized that this goal could most likely be achieved through a presence in Latin America .

The first branch of DUB, the Banco Alemán Transatlántico (BAT), was founded in Buenos Aires , Argentina, in 1887 . The good economic development of this country based on agricultural surpluses, as well as the political stability that its European-oriented elite had brought it, may have given hope for stable growth and the not a few German and Swiss immigrants an interesting potential of employees.

Expansion in South America

Despite temporary difficulties in the Argentine economy ( Baring crisis ), the BAT had developed so satisfactorily that a further branch was opened in Valparaíso , Chile, in 1896 - not least in order to avoid the bank for Chile and Germany (a foundation of the Disconto-Gesellschaft and Norddeutsche Bank ). In order to gain a better foothold in Central America , the DUB participated in the establishment of the “Central America Bank” in 1905 together with the “ Deutsche Bank ”, the “ Schweizerische Kreditanstalt ” and the banking house “ Lazard Speyer-Ellissen ”. This should open its first branch in Guatemala , in order to expand later in the other states of Central America. However, it did not succeed in achieving its business goal and had to be converted into a construction company as early as 1906 - to avoid liquidation that would damage its reputation .

The bank also gained a foothold in other South American countries. When the First World War broke out , it had branches in the following locations:

as well as 3 bases in Spain.

Effects of the First World War

Despite the war events, the transition from pound to US dollar as the world currency and the global economic crisis , the DUB was able to keep its South American business and its branches there intact until the Second World War , at times using improvised information systems.

Effects of World War II

In the course of the war, all South American branches were expropriated, most recently the Argentine ones, when Perón - actually a friend of the Axis powers - declared war on Germany in March 1945 under pressure from the USA.

Post-war period and business development until the 1970s

In the post-war period , Deutsche Bank initially dealt with itself. However, she supported the DUB - which had retained its legal personality and relocated its administrative headquarters from occupied Berlin to Hamburg - in an effort to rebuild its business. German foreign trade had already started again after the London Debt Agreement of 1953 and had gained momentum after the convertibility of the DM in 1958. As early as 1954, DUB had established joint representations for the DB Group in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas and Santiago de Chile.

The business volume of DUB, which had been quite modest up until then , experienced a strong boost after a branch was reopened in Buenos Aires in 1960 - the first foreign branch of a German bank after the war. This opening, which had been preceded by years of negotiations, also seems to have been due to the interest of the Argentine governments in reviving the traditionally good relationship with Germany. It quickly became apparent that the bank's good reputation, which the public had acquired before the war, was unforgotten. During the successful start, it may also have been helpful that the Banco Germánico, a branch of the German-South American Bank belonging to the Dresdner Bank Group , with which there was a competitive situation before the war, was not reopened.

Supported by numerous former customers and employees, the branch achieved a respectable place in the system in just a few years and excelled above all in the processing and financing of cross-border operations. It operated the universal banking business, most recently with about three dozen branches in Greater Buenos Aires (a branch in the provincial metropolis of Rosario that had been maintained for several years had been closed again) and soon united the majority of the business volume and most of the employees of the Deutsche Overseeische Bank. It also offered numerous young people from the DB Group (as well as some of its good customers) the opportunity to gain experience abroad through guest stays.

The overall positive experience in Argentina - as well as the increasing international presence of DB customers - led to further branch openings of the DUB in Sao Paulo (1969) and Asunción (1971). With Tokyo (1971) the DUB left its South American specialty. Also, following the clientele, she had set up two domestic branches and an office in Luxembourg.

Integration into Deutsche Bank

These expansions of the organization meant that there was an increasing need for coordination with DB, which operated its own international business through several alliances with other companies and had already opened its own branch in London . Parallelisms could not be avoided. So followed in 1976 a process of integration of DUB; their branches became direct branches of Deutsche Bank. For a few years the South American branches kept their name BAT until Deutsche Bank began to operate under its own name. The Asunción branch and the retail business of the largest and most traditional branch, BAT Buenos Aires, were later sold.

swell

  • Paul Wallich: Banco Alemán Transatántico, a journey through South America. v. Hase & Koehler, 1986, ISBN 3-7758-1129-X .
  • Manfred Pohl: Deutsche Bank Buenos Aires 1887–1987. v. Hase & Koehler, 1987, ISBN 3-7758-1163-X .
  • Gall, Feldman, James, Holtfrerich, Büschgen: Deutsche Bank 1870–1995. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-38945-7 .
  • Friedbert W. Böhm: How I got to the cows. Faktuell Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-9809203-0-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lothar Gall / Gerald D. Feldman / Harold James / Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich / Hans E. Büschgen , Die Deutsche Bank 1870–1995 , Verlag CHBeck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-38945-7 , p. 61.
  2. ^ Lothar Gall / Gerald D. Feldman / Harold James / Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich / Hans E. Büschgen, Die Deutsche Bank 1870-1995 , Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1995, p. 64