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Hnúštianska sporiteľňa, Hnúšťa
Hnúštianska sporiteľňa (Hnúšťa Savings Bank) was established in 1886 with share capital amounting to 50,000 Austro-Hungarian guldens. It was registered only under the Hungarian name Nyustyai takarékpénztár, r. t.. Mikes Solce became the chairman of the board and managing director while Andrej Mariássy was chairman of the supervisory board. The bank’s treasurer was Ján Takács and the chief accountant was Eugen Glóser. The bank was under the influence of the Putnok Savings Bank, which acquired half of its share capital.
In 1897, the share capital was increased to 100,000 guldens and in 1900, after the changeover to the koruna currency, it was valued at 200,000 Austro-Hungarian crowns (K). The bank provided small loans and took deposits mainly from local farmers and manual workers. It remained a small, rural institution with solid results, paying regular dividends, which rose from 3% in 1886 to 14% in 1913. It opened a branch in Klenovec in 1914. Its main partner for securities transactions was the Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest in Budapest.
During the First World War, it subscribed to war loans and also invested surpluses in the shares of leading banks in Budapest.
After the establishment of the first Czechoslovak Republic, it ran into difficulties because its funds were tied up in Budapest by the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It had invested a significant amount in war loans, which it managed to have recognised as claims against the Czechoslovak Republic with help from the banking industry organisation Jednota peňažných ústavov na Slovensku a Podkarpatskej Rusi (Association of Financial Institutions in Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia) in Bratislava. In response to the Savings Bank Act of 1921, the general meeting of the bank decided to change its name to Hnúštianska úverná banka (Hnúšťa Credit Bank). The bank suffered from a lack of capital and paid no dividends between 1919 and 1921. The general meeting ultimately decided to merge with Gemerská úverná banka, Rimavská Sobota.
The activities of Hnúštianska sporiteľňa are documented in just one surviving book of minutes of the management, supervisory board and board of directors, which is written in Hungarian and Slovak and includes minutes from three financial institutions: Hnúštianska sporiteľňa, Gemerská úverná banka and a branch of Tatra banka. The material may contribute to research on the history of banking in Slovakia focussing on the activity of a local financial institution in a territory with mixed nationalities in the first half of the 20th century. It may also be of interest with reference to the consolidation of banking between the wars and the penetration of Slovak capital into southern Slovakia.
The document was initially kept in the corporate archive of Štátna banka československá in Ružomberok, where a temporary inventory was made. It was relocated to the Archives of Národná banka Slovenska in Bratislava in 1993. The temporary inventory dating from 1968 was revised at the Archives of Národná banka Slovenska in 2016.
Last updated: Wednesday, December 27, 2023