114 Fun Facts About Banking

Which English king's 1672 'Stop of the Exchequer' ruined many London goldsmith-bankers?

Charles II's Stop of the Exchequer in January 1672 suspended repayment of government loans, bankrupting several London goldsmith-bankers who had lent the Crown their depositors' money.

What is the oldest existing retail bank in the world?

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, founded in 1472 as a charitable pawn lender (monte di pietà), is widely cited as the world's oldest surviving bank.

Which Italian city saw the first Monte di Pietà, a charitable pawn lender, open in 1462?

Perugia's Monte di Pietà, opened in 1462 with Franciscan preaching behind it, was the first of the charitable pawn banks that spread across Italy, lending small sums to the poor against pledges.

What is the world's oldest merchant banking house, founded around 1590?

Berenberg was founded in Hamburg in 1590 by the brothers Hans and Paul Berenberg, Protestant refugees from Antwerp, making it the world's oldest surviving merchant bank.

Roughly when did the first prototype banks give grain loans in Assyria, India and Sumer?

Around 2000 BCE, merchants in Assyria, Sumer and India made grain loans to farmers and traders, the earliest prototype banks; temple lenders followed in Greece and Rome.

Which medieval military order issued letters of credit to pilgrims from 1150?

The Knights Templar, from about 1150, let pilgrims deposit valuables at a local preceptory and draw funds in the Holy Land against a letter of credit, an early banking service.

Which two Florentine families dominated banking before going bankrupt in the 1340s?

The Bardi and Peruzzi, Florence's two largest banking houses, went bankrupt in 1346 and 1343 respectively after Edward III of England defaulted on enormous war loans.

Who founded the famous Florentine bank of 1397?

Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici founded the Medici Bank in Florence in 1397; his son Cosimo took it over on Giovanni's death in 1429.

Which accounting method did the Medici Bank help develop?

Double-entry bookkeeping records every transaction as a matching debit and credit; the Medici Bank's fifteenth-century ledgers are among the best-known early examples of the method.

Which two great banking families emerged in southern Germany in the 15th century?

The Fuggers and the Welsers, both merchant houses of Augsburg, rose in the fifteenth century; Jakob Fugger bankrolled the Habsburg emperors, and the Welsers were granted Venezuela by Charles V in 1528.

What did London goldsmiths issue in exchange for deposits of precious metal in the 17th century?

Goldsmiths issued receipts certifying the quantity and purity of the metal deposited; these transferable 'goldsmiths' notes' were an ancestor of the modern banknote.

The Bank of Amsterdam, founded in 1609, was the first public bank to do what?

The Bank of Amsterdam (Wisselbank) offered ledger accounts not directly convertible to coin; this 'bank money' traded at a premium over coin, which is why some historians call it the first true central bank.

What is the world's oldest surviving central bank?

Sveriges Riksbank, established by the Swedish Riksdag in 1668 as Riksens Ständers Bank, is the world's oldest surviving central bank, predating the Bank of England by 26 years.

Which private bank preceded the Riksbank in Sweden and collapsed after issuing too many notes?

Stockholms Banco, founded by Johan Palmstruch in 1657, issued Europe's first banknotes in 1661, printed far more than its reserves covered, and failed in 1664; the Riksbank replaced it in 1668.

In what year was the Bank of England established?

The Bank of England was founded in 1694 by royal charter to raise £1.2 million for William III's war against France, acting from the start as the government's banker.

Which Scottish trader proposed the national bank that became the Bank of England?

William Paterson, a Scottish merchant, proposed the scheme in 1691; Parliament adopted it in 1694, and he served as one of the Bank of England's first directors.

What is the Bank of England's nickname?

The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street nickname comes from James Gillray's 1797 cartoon of Pitt the Younger wooing an old lady dressed in banknotes, seated on the Bank's gold chest.

In what year was the Bank of England nationalised?

The Bank of England was nationalised on 1 March 1946 under Clement Attlee's Labour government, 252 years after its foundation as a private company.

Roughly how much gold did the Bank of England hold in its vaults as of 2016?

The Bank of England's vaults held about 5,100 tonnes of gold in 2016, roughly 400,000 bars, most of it kept in custody for other central banks and institutions.

In what year did the Scottish Parliament establish Scotland's first bank?

Bank of Scotland was founded by an Act of the Scottish Parliament in 1695, one year after the Bank of England, and is Scotland's oldest bank.

Who set up the first overdraft facility, in 1728?

Royal Bank of Scotland granted Edinburgh merchant William Hog a £1,000 'cash credit' in 1728, letting him draw more than he held, the first recorded overdraft.

Who is thought to have first personalised cheques with the account holder's name, in 1811?

The Commercial Bank of Scotland is thought to have been first, in 1811, to personalise cheques by printing the account holder's name vertically along the left-hand edge.

The person who writes a cheque is known as what?

The drawer is the person who writes and signs the cheque; the bank on which it is drawn is the drawee, and the recipient is the payee.

Where was the world's first ATM installed, on 27 June 1967?

Barclays installed the world's first cash machine at its Enfield branch in north London on 27 June 1967, beating a Swedish Bankomat in Uppsala by nine days.

Which engineer led the team at printing firm De La Rue credited with inventing the first cash machine?

John Shepherd-Barron's team at De La Rue is credited with the first cash machine, and he was awarded an OBE in the 2005 New Year Honours.

What is an ATM commonly called in Canada?

In Canada the machine is officially an automated banking machine (ABM), the term used by the Canadian Bankers Association, though ATM is also in everyday use.

What are cash machines not operated by a financial institution called?

White-label ATMs are machines owned and run by non-bank operators, such as independent deployers in shops and petrol stations, rather than by a financial institution.

Which reserve system lets a bank lend out most of the money its customers deposit?

Fractional-reserve banking is the system most countries have institutionalised; the alternative, full-reserve banking, is hypothetical.

Which international standards set banks' minimum capital requirements?

The Basel Accords, issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, set minimum capital ratios for banks, such as 8% of risk-weighted assets; Basel III tightened the rules after the 2008 crisis.

In which year was Basel I first issued?

Basel I, the first Basel Accord on bank capital, was issued by the Basel Committee in July 1988 and set an 8% minimum capital ratio; Basel II followed in 2004 and Basel III in 2010.

What is a 'run', in the sense feared by every deposit-taker?

It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Which economists' model explains why bank runs occur, and won a Nobel in 2022?

Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig's 1983 model shows a bank run as a second, self-fulfilling equilibrium; they shared the 2022 Nobel in economics with Ben Bernanke.

Which 2023 'cyber run' saw customers withdraw $42 billion in a single day?

Silicon Valley Bank saw $42 billion of withdrawals on 9 March 2023, nearly a quarter of its deposits, as depositors spread the alarm online; regulators closed it the next day.

Which classic 1946 film, set in 1932, depicts a bank run?

It's a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra's 1946 film, shows George Bailey calming a 1932 run on his Building and Loan with his own honeymoon money.

When was the US Federal Reserve System created?

The Federal Reserve Act became law on December 23, 1913, creating the Fed as a lender of last resort after the Panic of 1907 exposed the weakness of the national banking system.

Which president signed the Federal Reserve Act into law?

Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act on December 23, 1913 as part of his New Freedom reform programme, alongside the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act.

How many regional Federal Reserve Banks are there?

There are twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, from Boston (District 1) to San Francisco (District 12), each serving a district drawn in 1914.

What are the two parts of the Fed's 'dual mandate'?

The dual mandate, set in the 1977 Federal Reserve Reform Act, is maximum employment and stable prices; moderate long-term interest rates is a third, less-cited goal.

Which Fed body sets monetary policy by adjusting the funds-rate target?

The Federal Open Market Committee, twelve voting members meeting eight times a year, sets the federal funds rate target; the Board of Governors alone sets the discount rate and reserve requirements.

Where in Georgia did Senator Aldrich secretly meet financiers to draft the Fed plan?

Senator Nelson Aldrich met bankers including Paul Warburg and Frank Vanderlip at the Jekyll Island Club in November 1910; their secret draft became the Aldrich Plan, forerunner of the Federal Reserve.

What is the name of the Fed's regular survey of economic conditions?

The Beige Book, named for its cover, is published eight times a year before each FOMC meeting and compiles anecdotal reports on economic conditions from the twelve Fed districts.

Which Federal Reserve Bank is custodian of the world's largest gold storage reserve?

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's vault at 33 Liberty Street, 80 feet below street level, held about 6,000 tonnes of gold in the 2010s, mostly for foreign central banks, the world's largest known depository.

Who set up the First Bank of the United States in the 1790s?

Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury Secretary, won a charter for the First Bank of the United States in 1791 over the objections of Jefferson and Madison.

Which president vetoed the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States in the 'Bank War'?

Andrew Jackson vetoed the recharter bill in July 1832 and won re-election over Henry Clay that autumn, then withdrew federal deposits from Nicholas Biddle's bank.

In which city was the Second Bank of the United States located?

The Second Bank of the United States was headquartered on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, in a Greek Revival building by William Strickland, during its 1816–1836 charter.

Which Act created the FDIC?

The Banking Act of 1933, the Glass–Steagall Act, created the FDIC with deposit insurance effective 1 January 1934, after roughly 9,000 US banks had failed since 1930.

What FDIC insurance limit per ownership category did Dodd–Frank set in 2010?

The FDIC's $250,000 limit began as a temporary 2008 crisis measure until Dodd–Frank made it permanent in 2010.

What was the FDIC's initial insurance limit in 1934?

The FDIC's initial limit was $2,500 per depositor when insurance began on 1 January 1934; it was raised to $5,000 that July, roughly $60,000 in 2020s money.

What is the FDIC's primary source of funding?

It is not supported by public funds.

What did the Glass–Steagall provisions of 1933 separate?

They were largely repealed in 1999.

Which 1999 law repealed Glass–Steagall's affiliation restrictions?

The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, signed by Bill Clinton in November 1999, repealed Glass–Steagall's sections 20 and 32, letting banks, securities firms and insurers affiliate under one holding company.

On what date did Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy?

Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 on Monday, September 15, 2008, the largest bankruptcy in US history; the Dow fell more than 500 points, about 4.4%, that day.

Which investment bank did JPMorgan Chase rescue for $10 a share in March 2008?

Bear Stearns, facing a run on its funding, was sold to JPMorgan Chase in a Fed-backed deal announced on 16 March 2008 at $2 a share, raised to $10 a week later.

Which Japanese firm bought Lehman's Asia-Pacific franchise after the collapse?

Nomura bought Lehman's Asia-Pacific franchise, then its European and Middle Eastern equities and investment-banking arms, in September 2008; Barclays took the North American business.

Which merchant house collapsed in 1995 after losses of £827 million by trader Nick Leeson?

Barings, founded in London in 1762, was Britain's oldest merchant bank when Nick Leeson's unauthorised derivatives trades on Asian futures exchanges lost £827 million and sank it in February 1995.

For how much did Dutch bank ING buy the collapsed merchant house after Leeson's losses?

ING bought Barings for a nominal £1 in March 1995, taking on all of its liabilities, and operated it as ING Barings.

Which historic 1803 land deal did the Baring family's house help finance?

Barings and Hope & Co. financed the 1803 Louisiana Purchase by buying the US bonds France received as payment and turning them into cash for Napoleon, a deal that doubled US territory.

Which natural disaster upset markets and wrecked Nick Leeson's Nikkei bets?

The Kobe earthquake of 17 January 1995 sent the Nikkei sharply lower; Leeson had sold straddles and then bought futures betting on a quick rebound, and the losses became unrecoverable.

Who played Nick Leeson in the 1999 film Rogue Trader?

Ewan McGregor played Nick Leeson in James Dearden's 1999 film Rogue Trader, adapted from Leeson's own 1996 memoir of the same name.

Where did Nick Leeson serve his sentence?

Nick Leeson was sentenced in Singapore to six and a half years and served just over four in Changi Prison before his 1999 release after a colon cancer diagnosis.

Which company bought Northern Rock's branches in 2012?

Virgin Money bought the nationalised Northern Rock from the UK government for £747 million up front in January 2012, with further payments depending on a later sale or flotation.

In which city was Northern Rock, victim of the UK's first bank run in 150 years, based?

Northern Rock was based at Gosforth in Newcastle upon Tyne; it began as the Northern Rock Building Society and converted to a bank in 1997, ten years before its run.

Roughly what share of US savings and loan associations failed between 1986 and 1995?

About a third of US savings and loans, 1,043 of 3,234, failed between 1986 and 1995; the cleanup cost about $160 billion, $123.8 billion of it borne by taxpayers.

Which figure led the notorious Lincoln Savings and Loan?

Charles Keating ran Lincoln Savings and Loan, whose 1989 collapse cost taxpayers over $3 billion; five senators who intervened for him became known as the Keating Five.

Which bank was the world's largest lender by total assets in 2024?

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, created in 1984 to take over the People's Bank of China's commercial business, was the world's largest bank by total assets in 2024, with more than $6 trillion.

Which US bank was the world's most valuable lender by market capitalisation in 2024?

JPMorgan Chase was the world's most valuable bank by market capitalisation in 2024, worth over $500 billion, well ahead of Bank of America; it is headquartered at 270 Park Avenue, New York.

Which founding father established the Bank of the Manhattan Company in 1799?

Aaron Burr obtained a charter in 1799 for the Manhattan Company to supply water, then used a clause in it to open the Bank of the Manhattan Company, an ancestor of JPMorgan Chase.

In what year did J. P. Morgan found J.P. Morgan & Co. at 23 Wall Street?

J. P. Morgan founded the firm in 1871 as Drexel, Morgan & Co. at 23 Wall Street; it was renamed J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1895 and merged with Chase Manhattan in 2000.

In which city is Bank of America's corporate headquarters?

Bank of America's corporate headquarters is the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, a 60-storey tower completed in 1992, with investment-banking offices in Manhattan.

Under what name did Amadeo Giannini found the San Francisco lender that grew into BofA, in 1904?

Amadeo Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco in 1904 to serve Italian immigrants; it became Bank of America in 1930 after merging with Bank of America, Los Angeles.

What was Bank of America's 1958 credit card, BankAmericard, renamed in 1977?

BankAmericard, launched in Fresno in 1958, became Visa when the card was rebranded in 1976–77; the rival Interbank Card Association, forerunner of Mastercard, had formed in 1966.

Which two banks merged in 1998 to form today's Bank of America?

NationsBank bought BankAmerica in 1998 for about $62 billion in stock and adopted the Bank of America name, creating the first US bank with branches from coast to coast.

In which city was HSBC established in 1865?

It was incorporated as the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

Which British lender did HSBC take over in 1992?

HSBC completed its takeover of Midland Bank in 1992, one of Britain's big four clearing banks, and moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to London the following year.

Which P&O figure founded HSBC on 'sound Scottish banking principles'?

Thomas Sutherland, Hong Kong superintendent of the P&O shipping line, founded the bank in 1865 on what he called 'sound Scottish banking principles', despite having no banking experience.

Which man founded his eponymous Wall Street firm in a one-room basement office in 1869?

Marcus Goldman opened his one-room basement office on Pine Street in 1869, next to a coal chute, trading commercial paper; his son-in-law Samuel Sachs joined in 1882.

Where and when was Deutsche Bank founded?

Deutsche Bank was founded in Berlin in 1870 to finance foreign trade and German exports; it moved its headquarters to Frankfurt in 1957.

Which two men founded the express-and-banking company that served gold-rush California in 1852?

Henry Wells and William Fargo founded Wells, Fargo & Co. in 1852 to carry gold and run banking in California; they had already founded American Express in 1850.

Which Pittsburgh banker served as US Treasury Secretary under Harding, Coolidge and Hoover?

Andrew Mellon, whose family bank became Mellon Bank, served as Treasury Secretary from 1921 to 1932 under Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, cutting top income-tax rates sharply.

The Rothschild banking dynasty rose from which German city?

The Rothschilds rose from the Judengasse ghetto in Frankfurt, where Mayer Amschel Rothschild built his business in the 1760s; the name comes from the family's 'red shield' house sign.

How many sons did Mayer Amschel Rothschild send to found banks across Europe?

The family arms show five arrows.

News of which battle reached Nathan Rothschild a full day before the British government?

Nathan Rothschild learned of Wellington's victory at Waterloo (18 June 1815) through the family's courier network about a day before the British government's official dispatch arrived.

Which numbered Psalm inspired the five arrows on the Rothschild coat of arms?

'Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth.'

At which 1944 conference were the World Bank and IMF established?

The Bretton Woods conference, held in New Hampshire, set up both the World Bank and the IMF on ideas from Keynes and Harry Dexter White.

Where is the World Bank headquartered?

The World Bank sits in Washington, D.C., and is really a family of five organisations rather than a single bank.

By tradition, the president of the World Bank is of which nationality?

By an informal agreement dating from 1946, the World Bank president has always been an American nominee, while the IMF's managing director has always been a European.

How many member countries did the IMF have when it formally began in 1945?

The IMF came into formal existence on 27 December 1945 when 29 countries signed its Articles of Agreement; 44 nations had attended Bretton Woods, and membership reached 190 in 2020.

Which body, established in 1930 and based in Basel, is the oldest of its global kind?

The Bank for International Settlements, founded in 1930 to handle German war reparations, is the oldest international financial institution and serves as a bank for central banks.

Who was the first president of the European Central Bank?

Wim Duisenberg, former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute, took the ECB's top job at its founding on 1 June 1998.

How many members did the Eurozone have when the ECB was created?

Eleven countries formed the Eurozone when the euro launched on 1 January 1999, seven months after the ECB's creation; Greece became the twelfth in 2001.

What is the Bank of Japan called for short?

Nichigin is the everyday abbreviation of Nippon Ginkō, the Bank of Japan, which was founded in 1882 under the Bank of Japan Act of that year.

Which European institution was the model for Japan's monetary authority, designed in 1882?

Finance minister Matsukata Masayoshi modelled the Bank of Japan, founded in 1882, on the National Bank of Belgium, then regarded as the most modern central bank in Europe.

Which 19th-century writer's book Lombard Street urged central banks to be lenders of last resort?

Walter Bagehot, editor of The Economist, argued in Lombard Street (1873) that in a panic the Bank of England should lend freely at a penalty rate against good collateral.

In what year was Swiss banking secrecy codified in federal law?

The Swiss Federal Banking Act of 1934 made it a criminal offence for bankers to disclose client information, codifying a secrecy that had until then rested on civil law.

What did Switzerland agree to in 2017 that effectively ended its banking secrecy?

Under the automatic exchange of tax information (AEOI), in force in Switzerland from 1 January 2017, Swiss banks report foreign clients' account data to their home tax authorities each year.

What did banks use for international transactions before SWIFT?

Before SWIFT went live in 1977, banks sent payment instructions by telex, which required staff to write, key in and read free-format messages by hand.

What is the name of SWIFT's annual financial-industry conference?

Sibos, short for SWIFT International Banking Operations Seminar, has been SWIFT's annual conference since 1978 and draws thousands of financial-industry delegates.

What is the maximum length of an IBAN?

An IBAN is at most 34 alphanumeric characters: a two-letter country code, two check digits and up to 30 characters of domestic account number.

How many countries were using the IBAN system by December 2024?

By December 2024 the SWIFT IBAN registry listed 89 countries using IBANs; the standard began in Europe in 1997 and spread to the Middle East, North Africa and the Caribbean.

On which Indonesian island were the earliest known pig-shaped money boxes made?

Java's Majapahit kingdom produced terracotta piggy banks (cèlèngan) in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; many have been excavated at its capital, Trowulan, in East Java.

What do collectors call a piggy-style coin box, as opposed to a 'mechanical' one?

A still bank is a coin box with no moving parts, as against the cast-iron mechanical banks with animated figures that were popular from the 1870s to the early 1900s.

Why is a UK public holiday called a 'bank holiday'?

Banks traditionally close on those days, as they once did on certain saints' days, which is where the name comes from.

Which UK credit card, launched in 1972 by a consortium of banks, rivalled Barclaycard?

Access was launched in 1972 by Lloyds, Midland and National Westminster as a rival to Barclaycard, advertised as 'your flexible friend'; the brand was retired in the 1990s.

Who founded the first rural credit union in Germany, in 1864?

Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen founded the Heddesdorf Credit Union in 1864, the first rural cooperative bank; Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch had started urban credit cooperatives in 1852.

Where did North America's first credit union open in 1901, with a 10-cent deposit?

Alphonse Desjardins opened the Caisse Populaire de Lévis in Quebec on 23 January 1901, the first credit union in North America and the root of today's Desjardins Group.

Which robber, asked why he robbed banks, reportedly said 'Because that's where the money is'?

Willie Sutton (1901–1980), who stole an estimated $2 million over a 40-year career, denied the quote in his memoir, but 'Sutton's law' keeps it attached to his name.

Who is regarded as the first 'modern' bank robber, pioneering casing and getaway maps?

Herman Lamm, a former Prussian army officer, pioneered casing banks, rehearsed timed raids and getaway maps; Dillinger's gang adopted the 'Lamm technique' after Lamm's death in 1930.

In what year did the first US bank robbery reportedly occur, according to The New York Times?

The New York Times has dated the first US bank robbery to March 1831, when Edward Smith emptied the vault of the City Bank of New York on Wall Street using duplicate keys.

Whose strongrooms famously survived the Hiroshima atomic blast with contents intact?

Teikoku Bank's Hiroshima branch had two Mosler vaults whose contents survived the 6 August 1945 blast intact; the Mosler Safe Company of Hamilton, Ohio, used the bank's thank-you letter in advertising.

What does a bank vault's time lock do?

A defence against forcing staff to open it.

Which country produced the first polymer banknote, in 1988?

CSIRO and the Reserve Bank of Australia developed it.

A demand deposit account balance is legally what?

There are no banknotes 'in' the account.

The earliest-known state deposit bank, called the 'Table of Change', was founded in 1401 by the council of which city?

Barcelona's Consell de Cent founded the Taula de canvi in 1401; Genoa's Bank of Saint George followed six years later.

In the US, which body is the primary federal regulator for national banks, those chartered federally rather than by a state?

The Comptroller of the Currency regulates national banks, the Federal Reserve is the main regulator for state banks that are Fed members, and the FDIC oversees any bank with FDIC-insured deposits.