During the century after independence, both governments and businesses in the countries of South America alternated between boom and bust. How was an investor back in Great Britain to know when to invest and in what? How was a merchant bank in the City of London to know to whom to lend money, whether it was a capital loan or the buying of an ‘acceptance’ from a merchant (by which the merchant received payment for his goods from the bank before the goods were paid for across the ocean)? And how was a new businessman in a South American country to know with whom he could safely deal? They all needed networks of information, contact with a firm or an individual whom they could trust to provide them with that information. This was particularly crucial in the decades before the laying of the transoceanic cable between Great Britain and South America, when months could elapse without contact. How were these networks of information established, and by whom? And were they always successful? The answer to the last question was, of course, no, but having them was better than not having them. What was also vital to the position of British business in South America was the strength provided by networks of interconnected services.