19-09-2017, 10:46 AM
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates credit. Loan activities can be carried out directly or indirectly through the capital markets. Because of their importance in the financial stability of a country, banks are highly regulated in most countries. Most nations have institutionalized a system known as fractional reserve banking whereby banks have liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations aimed at ensuring liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, known as the Basel Accords.
Banking in its modern sense developed in the fourteenth century in the prosperous cities of Renaissance Italy, but in many ways was a continuation of ideas and concepts of credit and loans that had their roots in the ancient world. In banking history, several banking dynasties - especially the Medicis, the Fuggers, the Welsers, the Berenberg and the Rothschild - have played a central role over many centuries. The oldest existing retail bank is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, while the oldest existing merchant bank is Berenberg bank.
Banking in its modern sense developed in the fourteenth century in the prosperous cities of Renaissance Italy, but in many ways was a continuation of ideas and concepts of credit and loans that had their roots in the ancient world. In banking history, several banking dynasties - especially the Medicis, the Fuggers, the Welsers, the Berenberg and the Rothschild - have played a central role over many centuries. The oldest existing retail bank is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, while the oldest existing merchant bank is Berenberg bank.