European Guide on
Banking and Reverse Mortgage Loans
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E A B H strong lender of reverse mortgage loans. G U G international reverse equity loans. SEBH reverse mortgage loans all across Europe.
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History of the company/bank and archive description for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya
History of the
company/bank:		 The Banco de Bilbao was founded in 1857 in Bilbao under the Banking Act of 1856 which enacted the creation of banks and credit institutions. It operated mainly in the Basque region being authorised to issue banknotes precisely in this region. It maintained the function of issuing banknotes until 1874, when the Banco de Espana was granted the monopoly of the right to issue banknotes throughout the country. Then the bank initiated its policy of financing industries and businesses such as railways, mining and steel industries mainly in the Basque region. By the beginning of the 20th century the bank started its expansion abroad by opening a branch in Paris in 1902 and another in London in 1918. It also expanded within the country by reaching an agreement to merge with the Banco de Comercio, although with both maintaining their own identities.

During the more recent years the bank established a nationwide network, and intensified its links with other countries not only in Europe but also in the USA and South America. Its domestic expansion included the absorption of such banks as La Coruna, Castellano, Asturiano and Irún (1970s), as well as the creation of new industrial companies, among others Corporación Industrial BANCOBAO. The bank survived the big crisis of the seventies (56 of the 110 existing banks were affected to a lesser or greater extent) and, after its failure to merge with the Banco Espanol de Crédito, it finally merged with the Banco de Vizcaya in October 1988.

The Banco de Vizcaya had also been founded in the city of Bilbao, in 1901, its main business being with local Bilbao merchants. Subsequently it expanded throughout the Basque country and the rest of Spain. By 1921 it had opened branches in San Sebastián, Barcelona and Valencia. Its main activities included commercial loans and taking deposits as well as promoting industrial developments. In 1988 it merged with the Banco de Bilbao and the new bank took the name of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya.
Archive description The collection occupies 7,000 linear metres of shelves, which mainly comprises the Banco de Bilbao records, as well as a small group of records of its Barcelona, Madrid and Paris branches. Records of banks absorbed include the Banco Castellano, de La Coruna, Huesca, and Latino. The Banco de Vizcaya group records include corporate records of the bank as well as records produced by absorbed banks such as Banco Occidental, Banco de Crédito Comercial and Banco de Préstamo y Ahorro. In general those records comprise board meeting minutes, shareholders meeting minutes, accounting records, legal records, auditors and inspection records, staff records, real estate records, investment records and branches records. The archive has acquired an important collection of outside institutions, both business records such as Ferrocarril de La Robla, José Mac-Lennan de Minas, Babcock-Wilcox, Armamento de Aviación, S.A. , and family records including the Gandarias families, Zabálburu families, Errázquin-Chalbaud families and Chávarri families. It also holds a collection of audio-visual records, plans, maps, photos, negatives, films, videos.
Publications
  • Cuadernos de Archivo del Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, a serial publication.
Conditions of use A special authorisation may be obtained to carry out specific research.

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