Banco Sabadell has formalised a gratuitous loan agreement of a large part of the historic collection of documents of Banco Gallego to the Xunta de Galicia (Government of Galicia), for its custody in the Archive of Galicia, an institution which is part of the Conselleria de Cultura, Educación y Ordenación Universitaria [Ministry of Culture, Education and Planning]. The documents, which have been restored and inventoried by the Banco Sabadell Historical Archive (AHBS) are from the period between 1760 and 1900.
The documents were presented on Monday, 6th March and the ceremony was attended by the Chairman of Banco Sabadell, Josep Oliu, and the President of the Galician Government, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The ceremony was also attended by, amongst others, the Conselleiro of Culture, Roman Rodríguez; Chairman of the Banco Sabadell Foundation, Miquel Molins, the Managing Director of Sabadell Gallego, the Director of Sabadell Gallego, Emilio Pérez Nieto, who is behind this initiative,, together with the professors at the Santiago Xan Facal and Xoan Carmona universities, and the Chairman of the Consello da Cultura de Galicia, Ramón Villares.
foto xoán crespo
06/17
Recovery of historical heritage
The objective of this loan is to conserve, custody and diffuse the documents, permitting them to be viewed by the public so that they can be consulted by any citizen. In total, 633 books have been moved, including ledgers, bank account records, letter copybooks, invoice books, relationships with debtors and articles of incorporation.
Origins of the collection
With the acquisition of Banco Gallego, Banco Sabadell also acquired the historic documentation of Banco Gallego. This documentation is a valuable piece of Galicia’s heritage, as it is proof of a historic period of activity of the economic and financial sector which contributed to the development of Galician society. Banco Sabadell became the owner of this historical collection of documents when it acquired Banco Gallego.
Banco Sabadell, an entity which is very conscious of the relevance of the documentary collection, has restored this collection between February 2014 and November 2015 through archival processing and its restoration by the team at the Banco Sabadell Historical Archive (AHBS).
The origins of Banco Gallego, a name which it took in 1987, date back to the company founded by Manuel Pérez Sáenz in 1845. Throughout the years this name changed, as shown below: Sociedad Manuel Pérez Sáenz (1845-1884); Hijos de Pérez Sáenz (1884- 1901); Olimpio Pérez, Sociedad Regular Colectiva (1901-1909); Olimpio Pérez e Hijos, Sociedad Regular Colectiva (1909-1915); Hijos de Olimpio Pérez, Sociedad Regular Colectiva (1915-1956); Banco de Hijos de Olimpio Pérez, S.A (1956-1964).
On the 31st of December, 1964, Banco Hijos de Olimpio Pérez, S.A. merged with Banco de Crédito e Inversiones, and its name changed to BCI (1965 until 1987). At the end of the 70’s the Pérez Sáenz family lost control of the bank. In 1982 Banco Central bought a block of Banco de Crédito e Inversiones shares and changed its name to Banco Gallego (1987-2013). Banco Sabadell acquired Banco Gallego in 2013.
