ABSTRACT
The regional economies in the period 1960-1990 underwent significant real structural changes which were mainly led by governmental policies that had as one of their main supports a tax credit scheme that provided funding for investment in peripheral regions. The financial system underwent important transformations between 1960 and 1990 as a result of the financial reform and other policy changes. The reforms applied to Brazil as a whole but also had differentiated regional impacts. They began in 1964 when Brazil suffered a military coup and they were the consequence of the economic thinking of the group that assumed power. Banking concentration in the Brazilian economy was accentuated with the economic policies that had this aim. The process began after the Second World War as a consequence of the dispute for deposits by the existing banks. Banking concentration brought substantial changes in the structure of the Brazilian banking system.
