Banco Internacional de São Tomé e Príncipe

Banco Internacional de São Tomé e Príncipe (BISTP) is the largest and oldest commercial bank in São Tomé and Príncipe. It consists of a head office and three branches.

History

The bank was formed when the government converted National Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe from a combined central, development, and commercial bank into a pure central bank, Central Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe, in 1993. The government joined with two Portuguese banks, Banco Nacional Ultramarino and Banco Totta e Açores, to establish BISTP. The government owned 42%, and the two banks shared 52%. (The government had created National Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe in 1975 out of the branch of Banco Nacional Ultramarino. The bank, therefore, in a sense can trace its history back to Banco Nacional Utlramarino's entry in 1868.) The Portuguese bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which had acquired Banco Nacional Ultramarino in 1988, merged with it fully in 2001. In 2000, Banco Santander acquired Banco Totta e Açores and disposed of its interest in BISTP to Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which now owns 52% of BISTP.