Two decrees issued on June 1, 1816, by Emperor Francis I provided the legal basis for the foundation of the “privilegirte oesterreichische National-Bank.”At the time, it was not at all clear that the central bank would be a success.Victory over Napoleon had required an enormous military and financial effort.In its wake the Habsburg empire found itself saddled with debt and constrained to clean up and consolidate the budget, which required prudent management.Against this backdrop, the decision-making bodies of the bank were initially established on a “temporary” and “provisional” basis.The two key “provisional” management bodies were:
the “Committee (core composition)” (“Engerer Ausschuss”) (I/01.a)
the “Provisional Bankdirektion” (“Provisorische Bankdirektion”) (I/01.b)
The provisional state of the privilegirte oesterreichische National-Bank finally came to an end on January 18, 1818. Based on the provisions of the imperial decree of July 15, 1817 (First “Privilegium”, essentially the first central bank law), a full-fledged bank management was established, and the Bankdirektion took charge of management operations on January 19, 1818.
