ЕНГЛЕСКА ТРГОВИНСКА БАНКА У БЕОГРАДУ 1920–1926.
BRITISH TRADE CORPORATION IN BELGRADE, 1920–1926

Author(s): Ranka Gašić
Subject(s): National Economy, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), Financial Markets, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije
Keywords: British Trade Corporation; British-Yugoslav trade; State loan
Summary/Abstract: The British Trade Corporation was created in 1917 and opened a branch in Belgrade on March 8, 1920. Up until 1926, this branch served as a representative office for several prominent London-based banks, including Lloyd’s Bank, Martin’s Bank, Barclay’s Bank, and London & Westminster Bank. Its primary objectives encompassed facilitating relations with British firms within the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (KSCS), overseeing transactions between Britain and the KSCS, and providing financial assistance to domes- tic firms in their interactions with Great Britain. In 1926, the institution underwent a transformative merger with the Anglo-Austrian Bank, subsequently rebranding itself as the Anglo-International Bank. By the conclusion of that same year, the entity had executed the liquidation of its Belgrade branch. The bank played a pivotal role in managing the one million pound sterling state loan within the United Kingdom in 1925. Milan Stojadinović served as the sole Serbian representative on the Board, while the predominant composition of the personnel comprised Russian emigrants, complemented by a limited number of Belgrade economists, many of whom had received their education in the United Kingdom during and after World War I. The bank ostensibly played a facilitative role in the establishment of contracts involving Serbian/Yugoslav joint stock enterprises, namely “SARTID” Ltd. (collaborating with Vickers Armstrong Ltd. in 1922) and “Rudar” (engaging with Johnson, Mattey, and Co. in 1925 and Selection Trust & Co. in 1926). A limited number of Belgrade manufacturers availed themselves of loans from this bank. Primarily, they engaged in the trade of English textiles and cultivated business affiliations with British enterprises before World War I, notably amid the “Tariff War” with Austria-Hungary spanning from 1906 to 1911.

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