The First Workers’ Bank, a private company established as a Limited Liability Cooperative Society with Variable Capital, in the form of a corporation, was created under the “Law of Credit Unions and Workers’ Banks” and its articles of incorporation were signed on May 31, 1991. It began operations on September 16, 1991, with an initial capital of forty-three thousand two hundred colones (¢43,200.00), equivalent to US$4,934.17, contributed by 108 founding members, all workers and small business owners in El Salvador. Since then, it has maintained a steady level of growth. As of July 2001, the Bank is directly supervised by the Superintendency of the Financial System, under the Law of Non-Bank Financial Intermediaries.