The bank, therefore, took in its remaining currency, giving holders certificates and then redeeming these at about 19 centavos on the peso.

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1 The End In 1921, President Obregón was able to begin to address the problem of the impounded banks. On 31 January 1921 Secretario de Hacienda Adolfo de la Huerta gave the banks back their legal identity but divided them into three classifications (a) those whose assets were at least 10% greater than their liabilities; (b) those whose assets were less than 10% greater than their liabilities; and (c) those whose liabilities exceeded their assets. The second category were allowed to operate only to realise their assets and cover their debts. In accordance with this decree the Mexican banks of issue had to issue bonds to cover their liabilities. So on 2 August Juan A. Creel wrote to the American Bank Note Company asking them, if they were preparing bonds for other banks, to send the Banco Minero samples so that they could select for their own. The bonds were to be of the nominal value of $100, $500 and $1,000 each{footnote}abnc, letter, Juan A. Creel, El Paso, to ABNC, 2 August 1921{/footnote}. The ABNC replied that this was the first enquiry that they had received and they currently had no specimen available. As their price was dependent upon the amount of reading matter, quantity of bonds of each denomination and number of coupons on same, they needed more information before they could give a quote{footnote}abnc, letter, ABNC to Banco Minero, 23 August 1921{/footnote}. In March 1921 it was reported that the Banco Minero was trying to settle its account with the government in order to reopen its doors {footnote}el Paso Herald, 17 March 1921{/footnote} and on 11 June Subsecretario de Hacienda Manuel Padres wrote to manager Juan A. Creel that the bank had regained its judicial form, under the control of its manager and board, and as its assets exceeded its liabilities by less than 10%, it was classified as in Category B{footnote} Boletín de la Secretaría de Hacienda, {/footnote}. The bank, therefore, took in its remaining currency, giving holders certificates and then redeeming these at about 19 centavos on the peso. On (one day before Montes de Oca took office) Calles granted another prorogation (until 31 December 1930) to the old banks of issue to cover the payment of interest on bonos and certific ados. The 1 / 5

2 acuerdo specified that the Secretaría de Hacienda would determine whether those banks that were controlled by the federal government (as the majority shareholder) would be subject to the disposition{footnote} Excelsior, 13 February 1927{/footnote}. The rationale for applying the new moratorium rested on the government s recognition that it did not have the resources to resume payments to the banks. In May 1927 the Banco Minero petitioned the Comisión Nacional Bancaria for permission to reorganised itself as a banco refaccionario. The Comisión decided that it did not have the neccesary capital, as required by the Ley de Instituciones de Crédito, and should go into liquidation{footnote} Excelsior, 2 May 1927: El Universal, 2 May 1927: Boletín Financiero, 3 May 1927{/footnote}. In the latter half of 1927 the government announced a payment to the banks. It did this with banknotes of the same banks: the amount was $2,712,700 but as the government had bought the notes in the market it actually cost just over $600,000. The Secretaría de Hacienda signaled that it would continue this practice with the banks to whom they owed money. This was despite the ongoing moratorium on payment to creditors. Juan Zubarán, a lawyer representing the holders of banknotes, expressed his dissatisfaction with the moratoriums and added that the banks were speculating by buying their own notes in the market{footnote}excelsior, 15 June 1928{/footnote}. However, his complaints were ignored as the Secretaría believed that the majority of notes were in the hands of speculators. In November 1928 the Secretaría de Hacienda granted the Banco Minero (along with other former banks of issue) a moratorium of five years before it had to start paying its certificates of interest, to give it more time to liquidate its business and meet its obligations{footnote}excelsio r, 23 November 1928{/footnote}. Comité Liquidador de los Antiguos Bancos de Emisión 2 / 5

3 On 30 August 1930 the government issued a law to regulate the liquidation of the old banks of issue. This divided the former banks into two categories: the first those that were solvent and the second those that did not have sufficient assets to pay their liabilities. It established a Comité Liquidador responsible for categorising the liabilities of both categories of banks and of liquidating the assets of the banks in the second category. The Comité Liquidador was set up on 26 September and was composed of Narciso Bassols{footnote}Narciso Bassols García was born in Tenango del Valle, Estado de México, on 22 October He was a lawyer and public servant, being president of the Comité Liquidador and later Secretario de Educación Pública under presidents Pascual Ortiz Rubio and Abelardo Rodríguez. In October 1931 he resigned his post on the Comité, on being appointed Secretario de Educación Pública, and was replaced by Gabino Fraga (El Universal, 31 October 1931). He died in Mexico City on 24 July 1959.{/footnote}, Roberto Casas Alatriste{footnote}Roberto Casas Alatriste was a distinguished economist{/footnote}, and Gonzalo Robles. Article 24 of the decree of 31 January 1924 had imposed on banks of class (A) the obligation to accept in payment for debts their own banknotes or cheques drawn on themselves. However, in the decree of 30 August 1930 article 10 established that the Federal government would take over the obligation in respect of the provisional certificates that the banks had issued. Articles 12 and 13 arranged for holders of banknotes and certificates to present them to the Comité Liquidador, before 1 March 1931, in exchange for bonds. On 18 October 1930 the Comité resolved that banks should stop changing their banknotes for certificates and on 1 March 1931 the period for exchanging notes of the old banks ended and all bank notes and certificates finally lost any residual value{footnote}el Universal Grafico, 24 February 1931{/footnote}. The Tesorería de la Federación was charged with issuing Bonds for the Bank Debt (bonos de la Deuda Bancaria ) in exchange for outstanding banknotes and the certificates that had been issued since 19[ ]. The bonds were in the following number and denominations and were to be redeemed in ten six-monthly payments by means of coupons. Serie Clase $ from X A orange 10 B green / 5

4 C violet D sepia ,380,000 Y E red 10 F blue G green H grey ,000 18,838,000 The bonds were signed by Luis Montes de Oca (Secretario de Hacienda y Crédito Público), Lorenzo L. Hernández (Tesorero de la Federación) and Julio Freyssinier Morín (Contralor de la Federación). 4 / 5

5 When the law came into effect the government owed banks in the second category a total of $27,822, though special arrangements reduced this, during 1931, to $23,779, In March 1932 the government reviewed the basis of these calculations and entered into new agreements with the banks that reduced the total debt that it recognised to a more manageable $2,830, So, with the final arrangements on 30 June 1933, the federal government took over the remaining assets of the banks and the obligation to pay any outstanding liability. The Banco Minero In accordance with the law of 30 August 1930 the Comité Liquidador issued certificates for the nominal value of notes (or provisional certificates) of the Banco Minero handed in, with ten coupons. The amounts obtained in realising the bank s assets was to be applied to cover the costs of the liquidation and to pay an 8% honorarium to the liquidators, with the balance distributed amongst creditors.the Comité would incinerate the notes for which it issued certificates. The Comité took possession of the Banco Minero de Chihuahua on 22 December 1930, keeping Juan A Creel provisionally as Contador. On 15 October 1931 the Comité, representing the Banco Minero, negotiated a contract with the Banco Mercantil (E S Vallina was subgerente ), giving the Banco Mercantil the Banco Minero's portfolio to be liquidated, allowing the Banco Mercantil to keep a 15% fee{footnote}agn, Antiguos Bancos de Emisión, caja 302{/footnote}. 5 / 5