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Slovenská Tatra banka, Bratislava
When the Czechoslovak Republic was re-established after the Second World War, its political system underwent major changes that also had a strong effect on the financial sector. A broad legislative framework was adopted to allow deep interventions in the organisation of financial institutions and the money system. The government wished to liquidate the operations of foreign banks in Czechoslovakia, impose national management on the most important financial institutions and gradually consolidate the commercial banks within the country. One outcome of this was the formation of Slovenská Tatra banka (Slovak Tatra Bank), national enterprise, Bratislava. It was created by the merger of Slovenská banka and Tatra banka in 1948. After the consolidation of financial institutions, it was the only bank that could provide operational financing and financial services for nationalised, state, municipal, cooperative and large private manufacturing enterprises and for foreign trade. Slovenská Tatra banka was an important element in the structure of the planned economy. In its new function, it managed the finances of all the nationalised enterprises in Slovakia and from this powerful position it promoted the reduction of production costs, increased productivity and more economical operations in national enterprises. Slovenská Tatra banka performed a monitoring and control function for the whole nationalised sector. It gradually extended its remit to cover the cooperative, municipal and private sectors. It participated in the financing, record-keeping and control of companies authorised to engage in foreign trade if they had their headquarters or area of operation in Slovakia. The financing of all industrial sectors was managed by 1,700 employees and the bank had 90 well-equipped offices throughout Slovakia.
In 1949 the bank reported net profits of 10.5 million Czechoslovak crowns (Kčs), savings book deposits amounting to Kčs 1.6 billion and current account deposits amounting to Kčs 4 billion. Claims amounted to Kčs 5 billion, real estate had a value of Kčs 91 million, inventory was valued at Kčs 6 million and claims of Likvidačný fond menový (Monetary Liquidation Fund) amounted to Kčs 2.25 billion.
The members of the board of directors of Slovenská Tatra banka were Miloš Hrušovský, the head of the cabinet of the commissioner for food, Samuel Takáč, deputy commissioner for industry, Pavel Blaha, Ondrej Thomes, chief of staff of the Executive Authority for Trade and Industry, Pavol Stahl, head of the presidium of the Executive Authority for Technology, Ján Tomčány, chief of staff of the Executive Authority for Agriculture and Land Reform, Ján Uhrík, deputy director of Slovenská Tatra banka, Oldrich Doubek a Ján Kozák, officers of Slovenská Tatra banka.
Slovenská Tatra banka was supposed to be dissolved in 1950 with its rights and obligations passing to the newly established Štátna banka československá (State Bank of Czechoslovakia). However, banks in Western Europe and the USA refused to recognise the transfer of assets from Slovenská Tatra banka to Štátna banka československá, thus complicating the exercise of claims against foreign partners. Therefore, Slovenská Tatra banka was preserved as a legal entity although it had no operations. The liquidation of its claims and liabilities was handled by Štátna banka československá. The question of the future status of Slovenská Tatra banka was determined by Decision No. 7/1991 of the minister of finance of the Slovak Republic of 15 March 1991, which changed the name of Slovenská Tatra banka to Slovenská záručná banka and assigned it the task of supporting small and medium enterprises.
Part of the written materials of Slovenská Tatra banka were held in the regional archives of Štátna banka československá in Košice. Until 1962 other materials were kept at other branches of Štátna banka československá, from which they were transferred to the regional archives of Štátna banka československá at 4 Vrátna Street in Košice. A preliminary sorting was carried out using a scheme recommended by the Slovak Archives Administration, Bratislava. A combined introduction was written for the finding aid but every branch was treated as a separate fonds, so separate inventory registers were made for the documents from each branch. The archival fonds includes documents received from the predecessors of Slovenská Tatra banka and documents created during the bank’s liquidation. The first inventory was prepared in 1964. The preparation of the introduction was based on business reports from 1949 and the personal testimony of older employees. In 1993 the documents were transferred to Národná banka Slovenska in Bratislava, which moved them to its archives at 27 Krajná Street until 2003, when they were moved to the new archives building at 8 Cukrová Street in Bratislava. Here, the original inventory was revised.
Documents from the Slovenská Tatra banka’s branches in Banská Štiavnica, Brezno, Bytča, Čadca, Dolný Kubín, Ilava, Kremnica, Liptovský Hrádok, Liptovský Mikuláš, Lučenec, Nemecké (now Nitrianske) Pravno, Modrý Kameň, Nová Baňa, Považská Bystrica, Prievidza, Púchov, Rimavská Sobota, Ružomberok, Šafárikovo, Štubnianske (now Turčianske) Teplice, Trstená, Martin, Vrútky, Žarnovica and Žilina were kept in the corporate archives of Štátna banka československá in Ružomberok, where processing was carried out and iregisters made. These documents were moved to the Archives of Národná banka Slovenska at 27 Krajná Street in Bratislava in 1992 – 1993 and a description of each of the mentioned branches was prepared. In 2003 archival documents were transferred to the building at 8 Cukrová Street in Bratislava in 2003.
The archival fonds of Slovenská Tatra banka consists mainly of accounting documents. The most informative documents in respect of the bank’s activities are the preserved original minutes of meetings of the management bodies and banking correspondence.
Last updated: Tuesday, January 31, 2023