Banco Alas
Encyclopedia
Banco Alas Cooperativo Limitado was a commercial bank
based in Buenos Aires
, Argentina
.
Inaugurated in 1979, Banco Alas became one of the first to offer ATM
services in the country. The bank prospered initially, growing to include 76 branches, and over 1,200 employees. The collapse of much of the country's banking system on the heels of Central Bank Circular 1050, which, in 1980, tied interest rates to the (rapidly increasing) value of the US dollar locally, as well as the subsequent Latin American debt crisis
, which further stymied credit and the economy, led to the bank's decline.
The Central Bank reported in 1986 that it had been defrauded by Banco Alas for US$ 110 million in export credits; Banco Alas was the 13th largest private bank in the country at the time of its liquidation by the Central Bank. CEO Carmelo Stancato and Executive Vice-President Jorge Gaspar Duchini were convicted on September 9, 1988, of defrauding the Central Bank; as part of the plea bargain with Federal Prosecutor Patricio Evers, a probationary sentence was issued in return for their reimbursement of half the funds.
Attorneys for Stancato and Duchini unsuccessfully filed motions in Federal Court in 1997 and 2005 to have ongoing trials against them dismissed on grounds of expiration of statute of limitations
.
Commercial bank
After the implementation of the Glass–Steagall Act, the U.S. Congress required that banks engage only in banking activities, whereas investment banks were limited to capital market activities. As the two no longer have to be under separate ownership under U.S...
based in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Inaugurated in 1979, Banco Alas became one of the first to offer ATM
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
services in the country. The bank prospered initially, growing to include 76 branches, and over 1,200 employees. The collapse of much of the country's banking system on the heels of Central Bank Circular 1050, which, in 1980, tied interest rates to the (rapidly increasing) value of the US dollar locally, as well as the subsequent Latin American debt crisis
Latin American debt crisis
The Latin American debt crisis was a financial crisis that occurred in the early 1980s , often known as the "lost decade", when Latin American countries reached a point where their foreign debt exceeded their earning power and they were not able to repay it.-Origins:In the 1960s and 1970s many...
, which further stymied credit and the economy, led to the bank's decline.
The Central Bank reported in 1986 that it had been defrauded by Banco Alas for US$ 110 million in export credits; Banco Alas was the 13th largest private bank in the country at the time of its liquidation by the Central Bank. CEO Carmelo Stancato and Executive Vice-President Jorge Gaspar Duchini were convicted on September 9, 1988, of defrauding the Central Bank; as part of the plea bargain with Federal Prosecutor Patricio Evers, a probationary sentence was issued in return for their reimbursement of half the funds.
Attorneys for Stancato and Duchini unsuccessfully filed motions in Federal Court in 1997 and 2005 to have ongoing trials against them dismissed on grounds of expiration of statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
.