Sweeping changes have taken place in the financial sector during the twentieth century. Two of the most notable changes have been the growth of global markets and institutions, and the introduction of computerisation. This volume charts the course of concentration and internationalisation in banking and also examines the influence and implications of new technologies on the industry’s record-keeping practices. The exploration of concentration and internationalisation begins in the late nineteenth century and examines the effect of a wide range of factors, from macro-economic influences such as the liquidity crisis of the 1930s and the oil price rises of the 1970s, to the role of national regulation in the creation of financial markets and innovative products. The role of individual banks and their particular policies is also brought into focus. Some of Europe’s most eminent bankers provide a contemporary dimension by discussing possible future developments in continental banking.

This book contains 21 papers focusing on a wide range of issues concerning financial sector transition in the countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA). It places the transition economies in the context of recent and prospective developments in global financial markets. This book also evaluates the experience of the last 10 years and reviews the progress from a command financial system to a market-based one, identifying some of the key characteristics of the financial transition.

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed significant developments in the structure, organization, and expansion of financial markets and opportunities for investment in Britain and its empire. But very little is known about how men and women engaged with these markets and with new opportunities for money-making. In what ways did the composition of personal fortunes alter in response to these developments? How did individuals make use of new financial opportunities to further their own priorities and ensure their families' well-being? What choices of securities did they make, and how did these reflect their attitudes to investment risk? What were the implications of a rapidly growing investor population for corporate governance and the regulation of markets? How significant is gender in understanding new patterns of wealth holding and investment? This interdisciplinary book brings together a range of leading international scholars to answer these questions and to develop important new research agendas. Foremost among these is a concern for gender, with several of the chapters exploring the growing importance of women within investment markets. These findings open up dialogues between economic and financial historians with social, gender, and feminist historians, and add a significant new dimension to existing research on women's economic agency. The volume also breaks fresh ground by analysing aspects of wealth holding and finance in British colonial settings: Canada and Australia. Understanding the extent to which global financial processes shaped the economic lives of those on the 'periphery' as well as at the 'heart' of empire will offer new insights into the social and geographical diffusion of financial markets.

'The Handbook is especially recommended to MBA students and faculty and belongs in the reference collections of academic and research libraries. Although each chapter may serve as a self-contained unit, readers will want to look at the larger picture by comparing and contrasting articles found in each part of the work. It should prove to be a helpful source for those studying international banking, economics and finance, and international business.' – Lucy Heckman, American Reference Books Annual 2004 The Handbook of International Banking provides a clearly accessible source of reference material, covering the main developments that reveal how the internationalization and globalization of banking have developed over recent decades to the present, and analyses the creation of a new global financial architecture. The Handbook is the first of its kind in the area of international banking with contributions from leading specialists in their respective fields, often with remarkable experience in academia or professional practice. The material is provided mainly in the form of self-contained surveys, which trace the main developments in a well-defined topic, together with specific references to journal articles and working papers. Some contributions, however, disseminate new empirical findings especially where competing paradigms are evaluated. The Handbook is divided into four areas of interest. The first deals with the globalization of banking and continues on to banking structures and functions. The authors then focus on banking risks, crises and regulation and finally the evolving international financial architecture. Designed to serve as a source of supplementary reading and inspiration, the Handbook is suited to a range of courses in banking and finance including post-experience and in-house programmes for bankers and other financial services practitioners. This outstanding volume will become essential reference for policymakers, financial practitioners as well as academics and researchers in the field.

Both studies of political power and Europeanization studies have tended to neglect central banks. As the age of the euro reaches its 10th anniversary, it is timely to reflect on what it means for central banks, which have been at the forefront of the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union in the European Union. Central banks have been caught up in a major historic political project. What does it mean for them? What does the age of the euro tell us about the power of central banks, their Europeanization and whether they are coming to resemble each other more closely? This book brings together a range of recognized academic specialists to examine the main political aspects of this question. How, and in what ways, has the euro Europeanized central banks (members and non-members of the Euro Area)? What have been its effects on the power of central banks and their use of power? Has the euro generated convergence or divergence in central banking? The book offers the first, in-depth and systematic political analysis of central banks in the first decade of the euro. It places the euro in its global and European contexts, including the US Fed and the Australasian central banks, patterns of differentiated integration in European central banking, and the European Central Bank. It offers a set of case studies of its effects on a representative sample of EU central banks (euro 'insiders' and 'outsiders') and looks at four main thematic areas (monetary policy, financial market supervision, accountability and transparency, and research). The book contributes to Europeanization studies, comparative political economy, and studies of Economic and Monetary Union. It will be of major interest to students of the European Union and European integration, comparative European politics, and area and 'country' studies. More generally, it will interest all those interested in central banking and their pivotal and problematic position between politics and markets.

Without a means of crediting and debiting accounts worldwide and the non-physical transfer of funds, the rapid global economic integration of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries would have been impossible. It is the globalization of the banking system, much of which, particularly in Asia, had its roots in the nineteenth century, that helped facilitate increased human mobility, the exchange of commodities and manufactures, and the simplified transfer of funds. This volume examines the origins, growth, and business practices of European banks in Asia, and the development of Asian (notably Japanese and Hong Kong) banks, and their operations on an international stage, and in doing so, provides important new detail and analysis of economic globalization. It draws on the archival documentation of main British, French, and Japanese banks involved and provides analysis from a range of historical viewpoints, including global banking strategy, monetary regimes, financial markets, international trade, labour immigration, and the development of communication tools.