British banking : continuity and change from 1694 to the present

347 Pages·2016·1.566 MB·English

by  Ranald C. Michie

BRITISH BANKING

British Banking
Continuity and Change from 1694 to the Present
RANALD C. MICHIE
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OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,28/9/2016,SPi
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I dedicate this book to my brother, Uisdean Macleod Michie
Born on the Island of Lewis, 11th October 1945
Died in Nottingham, England, 20th June 2015
An inspirational geologist

Preface
ThisbookistheproductofmycontributiontotheLeverhulmeTrust-funded
Tipping Points Project that ran from 2010 to 2015 and was located at the
InstituteforHazard,Risk,andResilience(IHRR)atDurhamUniversity.Iam
enormously grateful to the staff at IHRR for the support they have provided
over those years and all those, with one exception, who participated in the
Tipping Points Project. I benefited enormously from interaction with an
interdisciplinary team as it forced me out of my comfort zone to think
about problems in new ways and so reach different conclusions. After an
academiclifetimeasapracticingfinancialhistoriantheprocesswas,attimes,
painfulbutrewarding.Myonlyregretisthatithadnothappenedtomeearlier
inmycareer.
I also benefited greatly from the advice of a number of others who were
connected to the Tipping Points Project either formally or informally. One
wasProfessorPhillipCottrelltowhomIoweanumberofinsightsintoBritish
banking history. Sadly he is no longer with us. He could have produced a
betterbookthanthisone.AnotherinvolvedwasIanBondwhohadacareerat
theBankofEnglandbeforeretiring:heprovidedmewithsomerareglimpses
into the official mind of British banking but bears no responsibility for the
outcome. I would also like to thank Chris Lendrum, who spent his career at
Barclays before retiring. From him I gained some understanding of what it
meanttobeabankerbuthe,also,bearsnoresponsibilityfortheoutcome.
Iwouldalsoliketothankmywife,Dinah,andmychildren,Alexanderand
Jonathan, for listening to me when I went through my voyage of discovery
regarding the history of British banking. I am sure they do not want to hear
anotherwordoverdinnerabouttheLendandHoldModelversustheOrigin-
ate and Distribute Model. I would also like to thank my friend, Francis
Pritchard, for reading the book and helping to make it fit for publication.
Hiscontributionwas,asalways,invaluable.Finally,Iwouldalsoliketothank
DavidMussonforstickingbymewhenIswitchedfromwritingabookabout
the global securities market since 1975 to one onBritish banking since 1694.
Istillhopetodeliverthatbook!

Contents
FiguresandTables xi
Introduction 1
1. ContextandChronology,1694–2015 16
2. CrisesandCrescendo,1694–1825 46
3. ConsolidationandCompetence,1825–1914 70
4. ChoiceandConnections,1825–1914 90
5. ComplicationsandCo-operation,1914–1945 125
6. ControlandCompartmentalization,1945–1970 162
7. ConvergenceandConversions,1970–1997 184
8. CompetitionandComplacency,1997–2007 202
9. CatastropheandConvalescence,2007–2015 237
10. CommentsandConclusion 264
Appendices 271
Bibliography 291
Index 323