Carlos Heller

Carlos Heller (born October 17, 1940) is an Argentine executive, cooperative banking leader, and politician.

Carlos Heller was born in rural Villa Dominguez (near Villaguay, Entre Ríos Province), in 1940, to a Jewish family. The Hellers relocated to Buenos Aires in 1950, and Carlos completed his secondary schooling in a vocational school. He married Ether Sosa in 1962, and the couple had two children. Losing his post in an auto parts manufacturer due to layoffs, Heller was hired as an administrative assistant in one of Buenos Aires' then-numerous credit unions, in 1963; in 1974, he was named to the board of directors of the Instituto Movilizador de Fondos Cooperativos (Argentine credit unions' coordinating body).

The military dictatorship installed in 1976 brought with it an ultra-conservative Economy Minister, José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz. Following a round of wage freezes (amid 400% inflation), Martínez de Hoz further threatened community banks in February 1977 with his Financial Entities Law. The measure prohibited non-profit banking and raised minimum capital requirements to US$10 million, both of which precluded most smaller credit unions in the country at the time. This and further measures enacted by the Economy Minister in 1977 encouraged the dramatic growth of investment banking in Argentina - particularly the financing of speculation. This adversely affected credit unions further by allowing larger, commercial banks to offer depositors exotic investment vehicles with high yields. As credit unions closed, Heller and other leaders in the sector met in a Villa Ortúzar co-op in 1978 to discuss the creation of a unified credit union; in November, they petitioned the Central Bank of Argentina to charter Banco Credicoop. Receiving the Central Bank's charter in February 1979, the new institution named Carlos Heller its first General Manager.

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