Participation of Banks in the Interwar Period Industry

Abstract

On the basis of archive materials and relevant literature the author of the following discussion outlines the direct capital and entrepreneurial participation of banking institutions in the Slovenian industry between the world wars. The development of Slovenian industry in the interwar period was mainly influenced by the banking institutions that operated according to the model of the so-called universal banks, characteristic for the Central European economic space. As far as the participation in the interwar period Slovenian industry is concerned, five largest universal banking institutions were the most important: Kreditni zavod za trgovino in industrijo (Credit Institution for Commerce and Industry), Ljubljanska kreditna banka (Credit Bank of Ljubljana), Zadružna gospodarska banka (Cooperative Commercial Bank), Jadranska banka (Adriatic Bank), which was transformed into the Jadransko-Podunavska Banka (Adriatic-Danube Bank) in 1924, and Slavenska banka (the "Slavenska" Bank). The exploration of the relationship between the banks and industrial companies in which these banks participated directly was carried out by selecting a sample of 22 industrial companies where the universal banking institutions had a majority ownership share. Most of the industrial companies in which the banks participated were joint-stock companies. The review of the archive materials pointed out especially the manner of how the banks participated in the industry, which is what the following discussion focuses on. It turned out that the banking institutions got involved in industry in three ways: through nationalisation, with takeovers of existing companies and by establishing new companies. In the discussion the author underlines each of these forms of participation.