What is banking ???
A system of trading in money which
involved safeguarding deposits and making funds available for borrowers,
banking developed in the middle Ages in response to the growing need for credit
in commerce. The lending functions of banks were undertaken in England by
money- lenders. Until their expulsion by Edward I in 1291, the most important
money-lenders were Jews. They were replaced by Italian merchants who had papal
dispensations to lend money at interest. In the13th cent credit was essential
to finance commerce and major projects. The most important was the wool trade
but other examples included large buildings such as Edward's castles in north
Wales. When Italians had their activities in England curtailed in the early
14th cent., they were replaced by English merchants and goldsmiths, whose rates
of interest were sufficiently low to avoid the usury laws.
Monarchs had borrowed from merchants and landowners for centuries. By the late 17th cent., the growth of parliamentary power over government expenditures required more regulation. The http://www.answers.com/topic/banks-of-england-ireland-and-scotland, founded in 1694, gave the government and other users of credit access to English funds. Similar developments occurred in Scotland and Ireland. These banks remained without serious competition until the later 18th cent., when expanding commercial activities gave scope to merchants, brewers, and landowners to establish banks based on their own cash reserves. Errors of judgment sometimes occurred and 'runs on the bank' took place when depositors, fearing for the security of their money, demanded its return.
Fluctuations in the value of money because of the return to a gold-based currency after the end of the Napoleonic wars (1815) precipitated a series of crises. To stabilize the currency the government eventually introduced the 1844 http://www.answers.com/topic/bank-charter-act, which gave the Bank of England the functions of supervising the note issue and of monitoring the activities of the banking system. Regulatory powers were put in place in 1845 to control banking in Scotland and Ireland.
Monarchs had borrowed from merchants and landowners for centuries. By the late 17th cent., the growth of parliamentary power over government expenditures required more regulation. The http://www.answers.com/topic/banks-of-england-ireland-and-scotland, founded in 1694, gave the government and other users of credit access to English funds. Similar developments occurred in Scotland and Ireland. These banks remained without serious competition until the later 18th cent., when expanding commercial activities gave scope to merchants, brewers, and landowners to establish banks based on their own cash reserves. Errors of judgment sometimes occurred and 'runs on the bank' took place when depositors, fearing for the security of their money, demanded its return.
Fluctuations in the value of money because of the return to a gold-based currency after the end of the Napoleonic wars (1815) precipitated a series of crises. To stabilize the currency the government eventually introduced the 1844 http://www.answers.com/topic/bank-charter-act, which gave the Bank of England the functions of supervising the note issue and of monitoring the activities of the banking system. Regulatory powers were put in place in 1845 to control banking in Scotland and Ireland.
In the 19th cent.,
overseas trade and the expanding British Empire reinforced the place of London
as a center of merchant banking. The skills of these specialist bankers
attracted business from foreign firms and governments seeking loans. These
arrangements made possible the rapid development of railways, heavy
engineering, mines, and large commercial developments. Many of these merchant
banks survive, including Rothschild’s, Lazard Brothers, Kleinwort Benson, and Schroder’s.
Internal trade was funded mainly by a larger number of local banks which, after
the middle of the 19th cent., became consolidated into a much smaller number of
banks. Numbers continued to diminish so that by 1980 banking was dominated by
four companies: Barclays, Lloyds, Midland, and National Westminster
Banking
has been characterized, largely because of technological innovation, by an
increasingly sophisticated provision of banking services and an expansion of
consumer credit. The business of safeguarding and lending money is often
arranged through machine-readable cards and continuous access by telephone.
