Say what you know about commercial banks in Russia

Unit twenty one

The Bank of England

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After the session on Banking Sector Mr. Hill suggested that in the afternoon the participants should visit the museum of the Bank of England. It was one of the external visits of the Programme.

The museum of the Bank of England is located practically in the building of the Bank, in the City of London. The museum has a lot of exhibits showing the history of the Bank from its foundation in 1694 to its role today as the nation's central bank. Visitors can also see a video on the history of the Bank.

Here is a part of the text of the video:

To understand the role and importance of the Bank better we should learn first how it emerged.

During the seventeenth century banking in England was in the hands of goldsmiths who held deposits, made loans to the mer­chants and the Crown. But even the wealthiest goldsmiths could not carry on a deposit and lending business on the scale the Govern­ment required.

So in sixteen ninety four a joint stock company to raise money for the Government and finance wars was incorporated. It later got to be known under the title "Bank of England".

Although privately owned and financed, the Bank of England de­veloped essentially as a government bank, raising money to finance the needs of the British Government, managing its national debt, printing banknotes and minting coins.

In 1946 the Bank was nationalized and it operates today as the UK's central bank executing monetary policy on behalf of the Government and supervising the markets in one of the world's larg­est and most sophisticated centres.

Besides the Bank has always been a repository of gold...

After seeing the video the participants of the Programme made a round of the museum and asked Mr. Hill a few questions.

Participant: Excuse me, Mr. Hill. May I ask you a question?

Mr. Hill: Why, certainly.

Participant: One day I heard the nickname of the Bank. Old Lady. Such a funny name! Where does it come from?

Mr. Hill: Nobody knows exactly. Different explanations are given. Many of us associate this nickname with an old cartoon. This cartoon shows the Prime Minister asking an old lady sitting on the money-chest marked "Bank of England" for gold coins.

Participant: So, that's it! Very fascinating indeed!