--------------------------------------+---------+-------------------------+------------+---------- | | Capital | | BANK | Founded +------------+------------+ Reserve | Last | in | Subscribed | Deposited | Funds | Dividend --------------------------------------+---------+------------+------------+------------+---------- London and River Plate Bank | 1862 | £2,000,000 | £1,200,000 | £1,200,000 | 20% London and Brazilian Bank | 1862 | 2,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 15% British Bank of South America | 1863 | 1,300,000 | 650,000 | 600,000 | 13% Italia y Rio de la Plata | 1872 | 1,200,000 | 1,200,000 | 242,600 | 10% Español del Rio de la Plata | 1886 | 4,400,000 | 3,346,671 | 738,848 | 12% Francès del Rio de la Plata | 1886 | 2,400,000 | 2,350,340 | 140,562 | 9% Nuevo Banco Italiano | 1887 | 264,000 | 264,000 | 103,400 | 15% Popular Argentino | 1887 | 429,836 | 427,251 | 197,296 | 11% Anglo-South-American Bank | 1888 | 2,500,000 | 1,250,000 | 750,000 | 9% Banco de la Nacion Argentina | 1891 | 9,697,600 | 9,697,600 | 5,332,319 | —— Banco Aleman Transatlantico | 1893 | 1,000,000 | 880,000 | 159,232 | 9% Banco Popular Italiano | 1899 | 110,170 | 79,752 | 3,696 | —— Banco del Rio de la Plata | 1902 | 88,000 | 87,340 | 6,864 | 10% Banco de Credito Argentino | 1904 | 247,280 | 148,783 | —— | —— Banco de la Provincia de Buenos-Ayres | 1906 | 1,760,000 | 1,760,000 | 89,320 | 10% Banco de Galicia Buenos-Ayres | 1905 | 264,000 | 264,000 | 2,438 | 4% Ernesto Tornquist & Co. Ltd. | 1874 | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | 230,263 | 10% --------------------------------------+---------+------------+------------+------------+---------- This lack of fluidity as affecting their capital is doubly inconvenient; it forces the banks always to keep their cash reserves at a high level, and also prevents their finding employment for their deposited funds——at any rate in the case of accounts at sight. Without this faculty of rapid mobilisation they cannot enlarge, by operations of short duration, the sums which they receive in deposit, and consequently cannot allow any appreciable interest on that portion of their capital. Some banks are at present paying 1 per cent. on current accounts; others, and notably the National Bank, allow their depositors no interest. For deposit accounts at three months the interest is usually 3-1/2 per cent.