Banco Central de ChileFunctions of the Central Bank of Chile
- Origin
- Historical
development - Institutional
framework - Objectives of
the autonomy - Central Bank
policies - Institutional
structure - Functions
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- Information
of interest
Other information of interest
The highest denomination banknote first issued by the Bank on December 10th 1925, compared with the highest denomination banknote currently in circulation
A) Chile's Basic Monetary Unit
In 1925, the "peso" became the monetary unit in Chile, with a content of 0.183057 grams of pure gold. The peso was divided into 100 cents. Likewise, ten pesos made up a "condor". Inflation left these fractional coins in disuse, until 1955, when a legal ruling established that obligations must be paid in whole pesos.
With the approval of Law No. 13,305, 1959, which replaced the peso with the escudo as the monetary unit, starting on 1 January 1960 (1 escudo = 1000 pesos), the basic law of 30 March 1960, article 51, ruled that bank notes should express their value in escudos, one-hundredths and half-one-hundredths, as corresponded, and bear the national coat of arms. In 1973, a new law, decree law 231, 31 December 1973, eliminated fractions of the escudo from accounting and documents issued as national currency. In 1975, the peso was reestablished as the monetary unit. Then, under decree law No. 1,123, published in the official gazette on 4 August 1975, as of 29 September of the same year, the monetary unit again became the peso, and at that time the rate of exchange was one thousand escudos.
Today, the Bank has the exclusive right to issue bank notes and coins, and may hire, in Chile or abroad, the printing of bank notes and the minting of coins. The characteristics of notes and their security measures are established by resolution of the Board of the Central Bank of Chile, and published in the official gazette.
The Central Bank is required to withdraw from circulation any notes in poor condition. Bank notes that have been mutilated, but clearly maintain more than half of their original text, can be exchanged at the Bank for their nominal value, while those preserving a smaller portion can be exchanged for their nominal value when, in the exclusive judgment of the Bank, it can be proved that the missing part has been completely destroyed.
B) The Bank’s Central Building
The headquarters of the Central Bank of Chile was designed by the architect, Alberto Cruz Montt. Initially, its façade in Agustinas street went from the corner of Morandé Street to the location of its main entrance today. The changes applied later on, which left it in its current state, were carried out by the architects Smith Solar and Smith Miller. They also projected the façade along Morandé to bring it into line with the part looking out onto Agustinas. This last is 71 meters long.
The Central Bank of Chile is built on a property measuring approximately 3200 square meters and is considered a heritage building, because it forms part of a harmonic urban setting included in a special zone designated for conservation (the so-called Barrio Cívico) and also thanks to its own architectural merits. It is in fact of an eclectic neoclassical style that follows the traditional design of banking buildings, particularly those of England, which is apparent not only in its external facades but also inside, especially in the central nave, where its terminations of rails, doors and windows with bronze profiles in sight and paneling of the same material, painted dark green, are a typical part of this style.
Inside there are many valuable paintings by Chilean artists, which are distributed in the different halls and offices. The Bank also has a collection of Chilean bank notes and coins.
C) List of Authorities Since its Founding
Governors
| years | Name |
|---|---|
| 1926 - 1929 | Ismael Tocornal Tocornal |
| 1929 - 1931 | Emiliano Figueroa Larraín |
| 1931 - 1932 | Francisco Garcés Gana |
| 1932 - 1933 | Armando Jaramillo Valderrama |
| 1933 - 1939 | Guillermo Subercaseaux Pérez |
| 1939 - 1940 | Marcial Mora Miranda |
| 1940 - 1946 | Enrique Oyarzún Mondaca |
| 1946 - 1951 | Manuel Trucco Franzani |
| 1953 - 1959 | Arturo Maschke Tornero |
| 1959 - 1961 | Eduardo Figueroa Geisse |
| 1962 - 1964 | Luis Mackenna Shiell |
| 1964 - 1967 | Sergio Molina Silva |
| 1967 - 1970 | Carlos Massad Abud |
| 1970 - 1973 | Alfonso Inostroza Cuevas |
| 1973 - 1973 | Carlos Matus Romo (1) |
| 1973 - 1975 | Eduardo Cano Quijada |
| 1975 - 1976 | Pablo Baraona Urzúa |
| 1977 - 1981 | Alvaro Bardón Muñoz |
| 1981 - 1982 | Sergio de la Cuadra Fabres |
| 1982 - 1982 | Miguel Kast Rist (2) |
| 1982 - 1983 | Carlos Cáceres Contreras (3) |
| 1983 - 1984 | Hernán Felipe Errázuriz Correa (4) |
| 1984 - 1985 | Francisco Ibánez Barceló (5) |
| 1985 - 1989 | Enrique Seguel Morel |
| 1989 - 1989 | Manuel Concha Martínez (6) |
| 1989 - 1991 | Andrés Bianchi Larre |
| 1991 - 1996 | Roberto Zahler Mayanz (7) |
| 1996 - 2003 | Carlos Massad Abud |
| 2003 - | Vittorio Corbo Lioi |
Consejeros
| Años | Nombre |
|---|---|
| 1989 - 1991 | Andrés Bianchi Larre |
| 1989 - 1993 | Juan Eduardo Herrera |
| 1989 - 1995 | Enrique Seguel Morel |
| 1989 - 1996 | Roberto Zahler Mayanz |
| 1989 - 1999 | Alfonso Serrano Spoerer |
| 1991 - 2001 | Pablo Piñera Echeñique |
| 1996 - 2003 | Carlos Massad Abud |
| 1993 - 2003 | Jorge Marshall Rivera |
| 1995 - 2005 | María Elena Ovalle Molina |
| 1999 - | Jorge Desormeaux Jiménez |
| 2001 - | José De Gregorio Rebeco |
| 2003 - | Vittorio Corbo Lioi |
| 2003 - | Manuel Marfán Lewis |
| 2005 - | Enrique Marshall Rivera |
Vice-Governors
| years | name |
|---|---|
| 1926 - 1931 | Francisco Garcés Gana |
| 1931 - 1932 | Luis Matte Larraín |
| 1932 - 1958 | Luis Schmidt Quezada |
| 1958 - 1960 | Vicente Izquierdo Phillips |
| 1960 - 1962 | Fernando Illanes Benítez |
| 1962 - 1964 | Félix Ruiz Cristi |
| 1964 - 1967 | Carlos Massad Abud |
| 1967 - 1970 | Jorge Cauas Lama |
| 1970 - 1973 | Hugo Fazio Rigazzi |
| 1973 - 1974 | Carlos Vío Valdivieso |
| 1974 - 1974 | Jorge Cauas Lama (1) |
| 1974 - 1975 | Pablo Baraona Urzúa |
| 1975 - 1976 | Alvaro Bardón Muñoz |
| 1977 - 1981 | Sergio de la Cuadra Fabres |
| 1981 - 1981 | Hernán Felipe Errázuriz Correa (2) |
| 1981 - 1982 | Iván de la Barra Valle (3) |
| 1982 - 1983 | Daniel Tapia de la Puente |
| 1983 - 1984 | Fernando Ossa Scaglia |
| 1984 - 1985 | Félix Ruiz Cristi |
| 1985 - 1990 | Alfonso Serrano Spoerer |
| 1990 - 1991 | Roberto Zahler Mayanz |
| 1991 - 1993 | Juan Eduardo Herrera Correa |
| 1993 - 2003 | Jorge Marshall Rivera |
| 2003 - | José De Gregorio Rebeco |
General Managers
| Años | Nombre |
|---|---|
| 1926 - 1932 | Aurelio Burr Sanchez |
| 1932 - 1943 | Otto Meyerholz Gallardo |
| 1943 - 1953 | Arturo Maschke Tornero |
| 1953 - 1958 | Felipe Herrera Lane |
| 1958 - 1962 | Luis Mackenna Shiell |
| 1962 - 1970 | Francisco Ibañez Barceló |
| 1970 - 1973 | Jaime Barrios Meza |
| 1973 - 1973 | Humberto Trucco León (1) |
| 1973 - 1985 | Carlos Molina Orrego |
| 1985 - 1986 | Jorge Court Moock |
| 1986 - 1989 | Jorge Correa Gatica |
| 1989 - 1990 | José Antonio Rodríguez Velasco (2) |
| 1990 - 1990 | Julio Acevedo Acuña |
| 1990 - 1991 | Enrique Tassara Tassara (3) |
| 1991 - 1994 | Enrique Marshall Rivera |
| 1994 - 2005 | Camilo Carrasco Alfonso |
| 2005 - 2005 | Enrique Marshall Rivera (4) |