Barcelona Taula de Canvi (municipal public bank)
Taula de Canvi de Barcelona (banco público municipal)
- Date
- 1401 · confidence high
- Place
- Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Credited to
- Barcelona's Consell de Cent (city council)
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A deposit and exchange bank created by Barcelona's city council in 1401, which guaranteed the deposits of merchants and individuals with the city's assets. It is one of the first municipal public banks in Europe.
It is called the “first public bank” or even the “first central bank”, but the Casa di San Giorgio of Genoa (1407) and the private Italian banks are contemporary, and definitions of “public” vary. Valencia's Taula dates from 1407.
What it led to
- municipal exchange tables in Valencia (1407) and other cities of the Crown of Aragon
- financing of municipal public debt
- current accounts and transfers between merchants with a public guarantee