| Description | Records of the Anglo-South American Bank, 1889-1936, comprising letter books between London and South America, and annual reports of the Bank of Tarapaca and London, 1889-1900, the Bank of Tarapaca and Argentina, 1901-1906, and the Anglo-South American Bank, 1907-1925. |
| AdminHistory | The Anglo-South American Bank was formed in 1889. It started life as the Bank of Tarapaca and London, founded by John Thomas North, a dominant figure in the nitrate industry. In 1900 the Bank of Tarapaca and London took over the Anglo-Argentine Bank to become the Bank of Tarapaca and Argentina. In 1906 the Bank's name changed again, to the Anglo-South American Bank. Its main interest lay in Chile, in the nitrate industry, and later in the coffee and cocoa business. Two subsidiary companies were created. The first was the Anglo-South American Real Property Company, established in 1910, and the second was the London and South American Investment Trust Limited, founded in 1912. In 1917 the Bank took over the Commercial Bank of Spanish America, and in 1920 it took over the British Bank of South America. Also in 1920 the Anglo-South American Bank obtained 60 per cent of the shares of a private banking firm, Banco A Edwards y Cia, in Chile. In the late 1920s and early 1930s business was bad because of the depression and the Bank suffered many losses. In 1936 the Anglo-South American Bank went into liquidation, while its subsidiaries such as the Trust Company and the Real Property Company were taken over by the Bank of London and South America. |