Banco Hispano Americano (BHA) was a private Spanish bank that operated during most of the 20th century, becoming one of the most important financial institutions in the country.

[1] It was created by a group of investors brought together by Antonio Basagoiti Arteta, a businessman from Biscay who had made his fortune in Mexico in the textile, leather, agricultural, and railroad sectors.

Until then, only the Banco de España had branches throughout Spain, and the founders of the BHA wanted to create a private banking infrastructure with a peninsular scope.

At the end of 1913, BHA suffered a crisis of confidence due to the bank's rumored commercial presence in Mexico, then plagued by political instability.

[2] Linked to the Sociedad Española de Construcciones Electromecánicas (SECEM), in 1978 the bank provided financial support for the operation that led to the creation of the holding company Ibercobre.

When the operation was practically closed, the Minister of Finance, Juan José Espinosa San Martín, and his undersecretary, Luis Valero Bermejo, thought that the new bank would acquire too much power and denied the requested tax benefits.

Talks between the presidents of the institutions led to the drafting of a document of intentions, signed on May 14 and approved the same day by the boards of directors of both banks.

[16] On January 1, 1992, the capital increase of the Central Bank, amounting to 34,069 million pesetas, planned for the formal absorption of Hispano, was officially registered with the CNMV (National Securities Market Commission).

On December 30 of the previous year, after the last signing of the merger, Hispano had ceased to be listed on the Stock Exchange, giving way to the new shares of Banco Central Hispanoamericano which, once its capital had been increased, began to contract normally.