Bank of Spain
The Bank of Spain () is the central bank of Spain. Established in Madrid in 1782 by Charles III, today the bank is a member of the European System of Central Banks and the Eurosystem; it is also Spain's national competent authority for banking supervision within the Single Supervisory Mechanism. Its activity is regulated by the Bank of Spain Autonomy Act. Until January 1999, when Spain adopted the euro, the national central bank was responsible for the former Spanish currency, the peseta. History Originally named the Banco Nacional de San Carlos, it was founded in 1782 by Charles III in Madrid, to stabilize government finances through its state bonds (vales reales) following the American Revolutionary War in which Spain gave military and financial support to the Thirteen Colonies. Although it aided the state, the bank was initially owned privately by stockholders. Its assets included those of "Spanish capitalists, French rentiers, and several treasuries of Indian communities in New Spain" (colonial Mexico). Its first director was the French banker François Cabarrus, known in Spain as Francisco Cabarrús. Following the Napoleonic invasion of Spain during the Peninsular War between 1808 and 1813, the bank was owed more than 300 million reales by