840.51 Frozen Credits/8384
The Counselor of Embassy for Economic Affairs in Argentina (Bohan) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 19.]
Sir: Referring to the Department’s circular telegram of April 7, 9 p.m.14 requesting monthly reviews of developments in regard to the freezing of Axis assets and other control measures, and with reference also to the Embassy’s despatch no. 6819 of October 1 last,14 I have the honor to submit the following report for the month of October:
The principal developments have been in the field of dollar-currency control. On October 8, inspectors of the Central Bank raided fifteen [Page 501] exchange shops that were more or less openly violating the Argentine prohibitions on trade in United States currency and the Central Bank has subsequently kept the situation so well under control that the black market has become small and very restricted (Embassy’s telegram no. 2003, October 14, 11 p.m. and despatch no. 7092 of October 26, 194216). This action was taken after the Embassy had discussed the matter on a number of occasions at the Central Bank, furnishing the Bank with a copy of a report of an extensive investigation made into the operations of the exchange shops, and after the subject had been taken up with the Foreign Office by a note dated October 5, 1942, pursuant to the Department’s telegram no. 1489 of October 3, 7 p.m.17
Following the reduction from $250 to $50 as the amount which travellers may take with them into the United States, the Central Bank informally advised the banks and exchange shops that they should decrease from $100 to $50 the amount of dollar currency which travellers proceeding from here to the United States may purchase in the local market, and it is understood that definite instructions in the matter will be issued shortly.
By a circular (No. 310) dated October 16, 1942, the Central Bank has required the banks that send dollar currency to the United States in accordance with the established procedure to report these shipments to the Central Bank. It will be recalled that the Bank had informed the Embassy on October 10 that it could not furnish, for checking purposes, the figures for currency shipments as it did not have these figures (Embassy’s despatch no. 6972 of October 14, 194217). Presumably the Central Bank had not required these reports originally because of its wish to avoid giving any appearance to the public of being involved in the individual shipments, realizing that in many of these cases the currency would not be released.
No important freezing measures have been adopted during the month.
With respect to the “interventors” and special inspectors in various German firms and the two German banks here, it was reported on October 31 by an employee of a German concern that, as a result of the address at Boston of the Under Secretary of State on October 818 and conversations which the Embassy had at the Central Bank (Embassy’s airgram No. A–301 of October 22 and despatch no. 7118 of October 27, 194216) the Central Bank had given very strict instructions to the interventors and inspectors. The same informant added that the Central Bank had made a thorough investigation of the [Page 502] Banco Alemán Transatlántico, going through correspondence as well as financial statements, and that as a consequence the law firm of Blousson and Mosciaro, which represents the Banco Alemán Transatlántico and a large number of other German concerns, had decided to advise its clients to remove from their places of business all incriminating papers. The same informant stated that Sr. Pahlke, manager of the German firm Tubos Mannesmann, a Proclaimed List national, was collecting such documents for the purpose of taking them to his home. (As soon as the Embassy receives a report that the papers have been thus removed it will inform the Central Bank and suggest that the Bank may wish to search Sr. Pahlke’s home.)
The Embassy has been supplied by Mr. Lansing Wilcox, Resident Vice President of the First National Bank of Boston, with the following interesting figures showing the adverse effects of the war upon the deposits of the two local German banks and the Italian-controlled Banco Francés e Italiano (all three of which are on the Proclaimed List) during a period when most local banks experienced unusual prosperity:
| July 1939 Pesos | September 1942 Pesos | |
| Banco Alemán Transatlántico | 76,000,000 | 46,000,000 |
| Banco Germánico de la América del Sud | 47,000,000 | 31,000,000 |
| Banco Francés e Italiano para la América del Sud | 43,000,000 | 27,000,000 |
| 166,000,000 | 104,000,000 | |
| All Banks | 4,020,000,000 | 5,340,000,000 |
In the latter part of October, the Central Bank after representations by this Embassy and the British Embassy, declined to authorize the transfer locally of a large amount of securities, reported to be worth a million pesos, held here by a resident of Monte Carlo, as well as the transfer by the same party of a smaller amount to the Italian Consul at Lausanne (Embassy’s despatch no. 7124 of October 28, 194221).
With respect to the blocking of funds paid for the purchase of ex-Axis ships, reference is made to the purchase by the Argentine Merchant Marine of the Esmeralda (Embassy’s despatch no. 7019 of October 17, 194221).
Respectfully yours,
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- For text, see Department of State Bulletin, October 10, 1942, p. 808; for the reaction of the Argentine Government, see memorandum of October 10 from the Argentine Embassy, p. 210.↩
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