European banks in Latin America during the globalization era, 1862-1914

This article reviews and compares the establishment and trajectories of foreign banking firms (British, French, German, and Spanish) in the early financial markets of various Latin American countries from 1863 to 1914. We describe and compare their organizational models and strategies to expand their businesses. We argue that the model of multinational banking was preceded by diverse banking experiments which need to be better appreciated.