Context and Chronology, 1694–2015
Context and Chronology, 1694–2015
Using a newly created database, which provides an annual count of the number of UK banks from 1700 to 2008, this chapter provides an overview of the changing composition and structure of the British banking system. The legal environment within which banks operated is analysed and the role played by government is examined. It traces the rise of British banking stability in the nineteenth century and its maintenance over the course of the twentieth before it was lost in the crisis of 2007/8. Comparisons are made with the United States using an equivalent database on the number of banks in the USA. The result is to show how different was the development of banking in the UK compared to the USA and this is attributed to the influence of government which was restrictive in the USA and permissive in the UK.
Keywords: private banks, joint-stock banks, UK banking, US banking, legislation, government, crises, stability
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