Real Compañía de Comercio de Barcelona a Indias
Real Compañía de Comercio de Barcelona a Indias was a trading company that was founded in Barcelona in 1755 and merged into the Real Compania de Filipinas in 1785 .
history
The merchants and merchants of Barcelona tried under the reign of King Ferdinand VI. to achieve their mercantile goals by forming a large company. In 1755 the Real Compañía de Comercio de Barcelona a Indias was established with royal consent .
The founding document contains the following remarks: "... His Majesty had the kindness to permit the city of Barcelona with its company Real Compañía de Comercio for the islands of Santo Domingo , Puerto Rico and Margarita ..."
The company's capital was set at 1 million pesos. The 4,000 shares envisaged had a face value of 250 pesos at 128 quarters each.
By royal decree, the Society's articles of association were approved in April 1756 and they were placed under the auspices of the Virgin of Montserrat . The seat of the company was Lonja del Mar in Barcelona. In addition to the monopoly for trade with the islands of Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico and Margarita, the company also received the monopoly for sailing trips to Honduras and Guatemala . In addition to trading, the company also carried out extensive slave exports from Africa to Central America. At the beginning, the company only used two galleons as merchant ships that were armed with guns to protect against pirates.
Since the share capital was not fully covered in 1762, the company had to take out a loan of 120,000 pesos.
After the company was allowed to trade with Buenos Aires , it first paid a dividend in 1771.
The company lost its monopoly in trade with Honduras and Guatemala as early as 1765. Due to a lack of financial resources and as a result of the war with England, the company's shipping was almost shut down. The crisis ended in 1785 when the company was absorbed into the Real Compania de Filipinas and its name became extinct.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander Kipfer: Historical securities of the Spanish royal and private trading companies of the 18th century , Haag + Herchen Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, ISBN 3-89228-533-0