History

I blogged a while ago about Switzerland and its origins as a financial centre, dating back to the Knights Templar. After spending a couple of days in Switzerland, I found a fascinating book that sheds more light on the background to this small, but important, centre of private banking.  The book is called Swiss Made:…

For us Brits, we pride ourselves on having famous figures from history on our bank notes. Some are more historical than others, and some are even still alive so, if you're interested, here's how the nations of Britain celebrate their heroes through their bank notes. The Who’s Who of UK Banknotes [Infographic] by the team…

For us Brits, we pride ourselves on having famous figures from history on our bank notes. Some are more historical than others, and some are even still alive so, if you're interested, here's how the nations of Britain celebrate their heroes through their bank notes. The Who’s Who of UK Banknotes [Infographic] by the team…

I was going to start this week with a serious blog post, but the ABN AMRO kickoff meeting for 2014 has caught everyone’s attention.  In fact, it’s made everyone note it so much that I’m going to dedicate today’s blog entry to it. Why did it grab the attention of all? Because the Chairman of…

I was going to blog about something ephemeral, academic, insightful and rich today … but then realised that I’m feeling energised by a relaxing weekend in Stratford, the home of Shakespeare, and felt it worth blogging about a few things that were intriguing there. One of the most intriguing things in Stratford is HSBC’s bank…

Like others in the conference hall, I felt a sense of awe as the world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph ‘Ran’ Fiennes, took to the stage to recount some of the stories about his life and travels, including the day he was in court over trying to rob a bank.  Bear in mind, this is…

I just had a quick tour of the British Museum inspired by an article I read in The Telegraph about their exhibition of British bubbles and bankruptcies.  The exhibition traces back schemes from the 1600s, such as the Darien Disaster, right through the Railway Mania and Overend and Gurney Bank failure of 1866 through to Northern…

I just had a quick tour of the British Museum inspired by an article I read in The Telegraph about their exhibition of British bubbles and bankruptcies.  The exhibition traces back schemes from the 1600s, such as the Darien Disaster, right through the Railway Mania and Overend and Gurney Bank failure of 1866 through to Northern…