Short History of Banking in Guyana
The first bank as such to be established in British Guiana was a savings bank, which was formed in 1828, but this was supplanted in 1836 by the Government Savings Bank, which through the years, had various amendments and became known as the Post Office Savings Bank.
In 1836 the Colonial Bank was established in British Guiana. This bank was founded by a Royal Charter given by King William IV dated May 1st 1836 and was formed by a consortium of West Indian merchants and private bankers in London. The Colonial Bank operated in the premises of the Demerara Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd. in High Street, Georgetown and a branch was opened in New Amsterdam on 15 May 1837. The Colonial Bank was amalgamated with the Anglo Egyptian Bank Ltd. and the National Bank of South Africa in 1925 and renamed Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas).
Also in 1836 a local bank was formed called the British Guiana Bank and this bank, which commenced operations in Feb., 1837, conducted its business in Georgetown for a number of years but eventually ran into difficulties and was taken over by the Royal Bank of Canada in Nov., 1913. The Royal Bank was originally established in Canada as a commercial bank in 1869 and from 1882 onwards proceeded to open branches outside of Canada, mostly in the West Indies.
In 1965 the Chase Manhattan Bank opened for business in Sandbach Parker’s building in Water Street and shortly after, in the same year, the Bank of Baroda established its local operations. The Bank of Nova Scotia opened its branch in Guyana in 1968.
In 1970, the Government established its own commercial bank, the Guyana National Cooperative Bank, due to a belief that the foreign banks were not operating in the best interest of the nation.
The phase of nationalization of foreign-owned entities that was undertaken by the Government also affected the banking sector. In 1984 the Government acquired the operations of the Royal Bank of Canada, renaming it National Bank of Industry and Commerce Ltd. and in 1985 the operations of Chase Manhattan Bank N.A. were acquired and renamed Republic Bank (Guy.) Ltd. In 1987 the operations of Barclays Bank PLC were acquired and renamed Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Ltd. The operations of Republic Bank (Guy.) Ltd. was absorbed into the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Ltd in Jan. 1990.
In 1991 the Government converted the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited into a public company selling 70% of its shareholding and in 1994 it sold its remaining 30% to Secure International Finance Co. Ltd., making that Company GBTI’s majority shareholder with 61% of issued shares.
In 1994 two new banks were formed: Citizens Bank Ltd, a subsidiary of Banks DIH Ltd, a local beverage / manufacturing conglomerate and Demerara Bank Ltd., a subsidiary of Demerara Distillers Ltd., another local beverage / manufacturing conglomerate.
In 1997 the Government sold 51% of its shareholding in the National Bank of Industry and Commerce Ltd. to Republic Bank Ltd., the largest financial institution in Trinidad and Tobago.
