Arhivski vjesnik, Vol. 61 No. 1, 2018.
Pregledni rad
The Zagreb Discount Bank Ltd. (1920-1948)
Siniša Lajnert
orcid.org/0000-0001-9020-4653
; Hrvatski Državni Arhiv, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The paper concerns the structure, the activity and the liquidation of the
Zagreb Discount Bank Ltd. from 1920 when it was founded until 1948 when its liquidation was finished. It was established by the conversion of the M. Samujlović Banking House to a limited liability company. It entered the Commercial Register for Companies on 21 November 1920 of the Royal Judiciary Table, the latter acting like the commercial court in Zagreb. The company was based on the rules from 6 November 1920. According to the Discount Bank’s rules, its structure comprised of: the main assembly, the headquarters and the inspecting committee.
According to information from 8 November 1940 the invested capital was 1,000.000 dinars and was divided to 2.000 shares; each of them of 500 dinars on the name of the bearer. The point of the company was to carry out all banking, saving and exchanging activities, as well as to establish and run the goods department. In the beginning the goods department included the commerce with the iron, glass and porcelain goods on a large scale (1920-1934) and since 1934 coal commerce on a large scale (without a warehouse). The name under which the bank did business at the time was Discount Bank Ltd. as the Sales Office of the ‘Monte Promina’ Coal Society in Siverić. According to the headquarters reports the company did not take on large obligations since its foundation, but was always within the permitted limits, hence, it did not feel the world financial and economic crisis to the extent as the companies with large obligations. Despite the economic crisis the banks’ business developed continually and securely. The bank remained
spared of all frictions and embarrassments; hence it met all the investors’ demands without limits, which proved its solvency. At the end of 1940 the bank’s stockholders were: 1. Aleksandar Frelić (Fröhlich), 2. Miroslav Frelić (Fröhlich), 3. Ruža Frelić nee honourable Medved, 4. Dragutin Karlić, 5. dr. Vinko Mandekić and 6. Artur Polić (Pollak). After the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia the Discount Bank, being a Jewish company, got a commissioner and from 10 April 1941 practically ceased to operate. According to the bank’s commissioner reports, the company did not pursue banking business at all in the strictest of terms, but its whole activity mostly comprised of honouring the bank transfers of its business partners to abroad and of commissioning activity, particularly with the ‘Monte Promina’ Coal Pit Society from Siverić. More precisely, the company was
selling coal and as such was running the sales office of the Siverić Coal Society. This branch of business was the most active one and provided the company with a yearly profit up to 1.000,00 kuna. As soon as the war broke out in April 1941, the society ceased to do business with the bank and from then on did not show interest to pursue it again. However, the biggest cause for terminating the running of the business was the fact that the bank owed the coal society approximately 1.300,00 kuna. As for the internal work structure and running of the company’s business, it was ascertained that it was run in a very bad and careless manner. Since 16 July 1943 the Discount Bank was in the process of liquidation based on the decision of the Ministry of the State Treasury of the Independent State of Croatia. The liquidation was entrusted to the Savings Bank of the Independent State of Croatia.
The name of the company at that time was The Discount Bank, owned by the Independent State of Croatia. The liquidation went quite slow, because all the active assets were insolvent, due to the circumstances of the time. Since not a single condition existed for a continuing successful activity of the Discount Bank and because there was a planned liquidation of private banking companies, the liquidation of the company was set in the socialist Yugoslavia on 21 October 1946
and was finished on 1 July 1948.
Ključne riječi
Discount Bank; Zagreb; balance, profit and deficit; stockholders; liquidation; 1920-1948
Hrčak ID:
216956
URI
Datum izdavanja:
14.9.2018.
Posjeta: 1.209 *