1 April 1926
Commencement of operations of the NBC
The Bank Board of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia held its first meeting on 1 April 1926. Its main task was to set the date for the commencement of operations of the independent Czechoslovak bank of issue. Finance Minister Karel Engliš proposed 1 April 1926, and all members present agreed.
The agenda also included measures to ensure legal continuity with the former Banking Office of the Ministry of Finance and certain formal steps required by law, such as the mandatory depositing of NBC shares for the Bank Board members.
The Bank Board also agreed that the event should be communicated abroad. At the request of President Masaryk, it decided to publish a report on the inaugural general meeting “in such a form that it may be preserved in private libraries”.
The minutes of the meeting of 1 April 1926 included a draft agreement on the transfer and settlement of rights and obligations between the Banking Office of the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Czechoslovakia. Under this agreement, the bank of issue assumed all the assets of the Banking Office as stated in its 1925 year-end accounts. At the same time, the commencement of the National Bank’s operations was formally backdated from 1 April 1926 to 1 January of that year.
The signing of this agreement by representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the bank of issue on 2 February 1927 marked the final step in the establishment of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia.