Point d’histoire ou de civilisation/culture
History of banks in England.
In 1650, the first bank was opened in Nottingham by Thomas Smith. In 1694, the Bank of England was set up. Merchant banks were created in London to facilitate international trade and industrial development in the 18th century during the Industrial Revolution. Two important ones were Rothschild and Baring. Among the important banks today are Barklays, Lloyds, and National Westminster. Scotland has its own banks like the Royal Bank of Scotland. “the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street', situated between Bishopsgate and Bank junction is the name given to the Bank of England.
Read the text carefully then answer the questions
Offshore banking, is a segment of the finance industry whose birth can be traced back to Vienna, Austria. Offshore banking was born when the neutrality of Switzerland was established during the Vienna Congress in 1815. Some accounts, however, claim that offshore banking originated in the Channel Islands of the coast of France.
Despite the contradictions, one thing is clear: that offshore banking was born out of the need for individuals to find a haven for their wealth. During the post-Napoleon Europe, wealthy families and merchants saw the need to find a safe place to keep their growing assets. This was an era in Europe defined by constant economic turmoil and political strife.
The ruling elite sought ways to finance their wars and lead lives of luxury, and with the increasing numbers of affluent families, taxation had grown to become the easiest and most rewarding way to get more money. During this time, European kingdoms, empires, and territories imposed higher taxes without providing equivalent services such as security. Prevalent insecurity due to societal imbalances and exorbitant taxation forced the wealthy to safeguard their dwindling fortunes abroad.
In the mid-1800s, bankers in the Northwestern Islands near France cashed in on frustrations faced by the Europe’s super-rich by inviting them to deposit their wealth in their banks to enjoy strong asset protection, lower taxation, and get banking confidence. Before long, offshore banking was open to the rich and opening accounts with these banks spread among the royals, industrialists, and the European elite families.
Since the foundation of the first offshore banks in Vienna and Chanel Islands, offshore financial institutions have maintained an impressive resume of safeguarding the wealth of foreign investors from unreasonable financial regulations and scrutiny, socioeconomic turmoil, and punitive taxation by regimes among other threats. The 'snowball’ effect that resulted led to smaller “offshore jurisdictions” rushing to tap the revenue flowing freely into the small islands that were being revamped as tax havens.
While the British government realized that offshore banking and tax havens were viable goldmines in the 1960s, it was the country’s small formal policy development approach that contributed to the thriving of offshore banking. For instance, when the London financial community underwent a transformation that made it a preferable banking location in the late 19th century, states in the US including New Jersey quickly followed suit. In 1889, New Jersey became the first state to liberalize incorporation laws as a way to entice companies and corporations from out of the state to register there and enjoy greater tax limits.
Caribbean-based offshore banking took off after the First World War in the 1920s largely because of the islands’ proximity to the United States. In the years after the war, wealthy plantation owners, industrialists, and stock traders were attracted to the emerging secure banking services offering more convenient services compared to established offshore jurisdictions in Europe.
Source : http://www.worldoffshorebanks.com/history-of-offshore-banking-does-it-really-have-a-future.php Santana Nyekano
Questions
1. What are the advantages of offshore banking ?
2. To what extent can offshore banking be justified today ?
Origin of offshore banking
Which of the following statements are right or wrong?
Answers
Which of the following statements are right or wrong?
1My English is pathetic, PUF. p.66.