银行英语,银行的发展历史

Unit One IntroductionSection One: The Introduction of currencyPassage One: The Origin of CurrencyIn ancient history coins circulated as money long before paper money was used. The earliest coins are believed to have originated independently in both China and the ancient kingdom of Lydia in the 7th century BC. In about 500 BC, The famous Persian King, Darius, revolutionized the economy of his empire by using coins as a substitute for barter. Evidence of this change has been found in the well-preserved inscriptions and rock carvings in Persepolis in Iran.Paper money appeared in China in the 8th century. It is well-known that printing with movable blocks was invented in China approximately 50 BC, and paper was firsts manufactured there in about 100 AD, both necessary to the manufacture of paper currency. The earliest paper money consisted of receipts that were issued either for valuables deposited at special shops for safekeeping or for taxes paid-in kind and held on deposit in a provincial center rather than being shipped to the capital. Visitors to China during the 12th and 13th centuries were impressed by the use of paper money. Marco Polo regarded ―the coinage of this paper money‖ as a novel way of doing what the alchemists had tried. In the 13th century the government of Genghis Khan exchanged its paper notes for gold, and counterfeiting paper money was a capital offense. Although governmental units in China had given up the issuance of paper money by the year 1500 because of difficulties with oversupply and inflation, private banks continued to issue it.In Europe during the Middle Ages there were important developments in banking and credit in the large trading centers of Florence, Venice, Genoa, Constantinople and Bruges. However, these centers did not use paper money, even though banks transferred funds with letters of exchange and extended credit in the form of delayed payments. It is believed that paper currency was first used in Europe in the 7th century, at about the same time that the first commercial banks were established in Sweden and Great Britain.Paper money was used quite early by settlers in North and South America. In 1685 there was a critical shortage of coins in Canada, and the French colonists used playing cards carrying official seals and signatures as money. In the 18th century paper money was issued in most of the American colonies. The early American colonists had few coins and often used commodities, such as furs and tobacco, as the medium of exchange. The Britain coins the colonists had usually soon went back to Britain to pay for imports. A major source of coins in the colonial period was the favorable trade balance with the Spanish colonies. This caused an inflow of Spanish pesos. Because of the need for coins, the government of some colonies attempted to attract Spanish coins by raising the price of Spanish dollars in terms of shillings. Most of the Spanishpesos were minted in Mexico City and Lima. The colonists called them dollars, probably they were similar in size to the German thaler.Note: Money is the most general term while cash usually means in coins or notes. In the history, there are many idioms passed down about money both in China and abroad, such as, ―Money is the king.‖―Money can‘t buy you love.‖―She intends to marry money.‖―Money talks.‖―Money burns a hole in one‘s pocket.‖―Money makes everything go.‖―Money makes money.‖ And money-spinner, money-grubber, money bags etc.Passage Two: The History of American DollarA book called ― A History of Money‖ is written by a British professor Glyn Davies. He wrote that during American colonial times, the British pound was in short supply. So the colonists had to find substitutes – tobacco, for example, even foreign coins. Some colonies printed their own money. Britain was not happy. This became one of the causes of thee American Revolution.The colonists printed notes called Continentals to pay for the war. The value of some Continentals was based on the British pound. Others were based on the Spanish peso or dollar coin. The world dollar came from the German word ―taler‖(Tah-ler). That came from the name of a place where silver was mined and made into coins.The United States declared its independence in seventeen-seventy-six. In seventeen-ninety-two, the nation chose the dollar as its unit of currency. One dollar equaled one-hundred cents. It still does. The Constitution gives Congress the power to print money and set its value. In nineteen-thirteen, Congress created the United States central bank, the Federal Reserve, to supervise the money supply.The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces bank notes for the Federal Reserve System. The bureau began in eighteen-sixty-two as a six person operation in the Treasury Department. Steam powered the presses. Today money is printed twenty-four hours a day. Notes came in one, five, ten, twenty, fifty and one hundred dollar amounts. Design changes have been made in recent years to improve security.The United States Mint produces coins. The Associated Press reported just this week about a special coin. Coin collecting experts say they have identified a two-hundred-ten-year-old silver dollar. Some consider it the first silver dollar ever made by thee United States Mint. The American Numismatic Association, a collectors group, says it plans to show thecoin to the public as of next month.Section Two: The introduction of banking historyPassage Three: Banking HistoryListening to the following passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question you hear.1.a) They exchanged money with foreign travelers.b) They loaned local coins to foreign travelers.c) They kept their money in strong boxes at home.d) They loaned money to kings and rich people.2. a) The early bankers in Italy worked on the street.b) The word ―bank‖ comes from the word ―bench‖.c) Banking has a long history.d) Early bankers did business in a small way.3. a) Italian bankers / in the 16th century.b) British bankers / in the 17th century.c) American bankers /in the 18th century.d) None of the above.4. a) In the 16th century.b) In the 17th century.c) In the 18th century.d) In the 19th century.5. a) Robbery was not serious in early civilizations.b) European kings were not really rich.c) The first bankers in the world emerged in Italy.d) The business of banking has thrived steadily since its beginning.Passage Four: Origins of Modern BankingThe word ―bank‖ is thought to have come from Italy, from the Italian word ―banca‖. Translated, this is understood to mean bench; bench meaning a long board on which one sat. In old Italy when one was bankrupt, everything involving the business, including furniture and especially the bench for conducting business, was liquidated, or even taken away. As a result, when someone goes out of business, we still today call it being bankrupt; in the literal sense, a person loses the bench from which they conducted business.In the sense that we understand it today, modern banking began near the 1700s. Around 1694, the Bank of England accepted commercial deposits from businesses and other commercial enterprises. They made loans against the commercial deposits, and also, at the same time, operated as an agent for the British government. Despite its support by the British Government, the Bank of England is considered a predecessor of modern banking, at least in the United Kingdom.So modern banking, as far as we are concerned, began roughly in 1700 or in this particular case, the exact year was 1694.Passage Five The History of Bank of ChinaThe Bank of China is one of the biggest banking institutions of our country. It also has the longest history among the present banks in China. It was set up in 1912. Its predecessor was the Treasury Bank, established in 1905, which in 1908 changed its name to the Bank of Great Qing. In January 1912 Dr. Sun Yet Sen, the interim president of the Public of China, approved that the Bank of Great Qing should be transformed into the Bank of China. It acted as the central bank in old China before 1949. Roughly speaking, there were two periods in the development of the Bank. The first period was from 1949 to 1994. It was mainly a state-owned specialized foreign exchange bank, responsible for international settlements of trade and non-trade. In 1994, the Chinese-foreign exchange system underwent a big change. The dual track of the foreign-currency system was replaced by a single track foreign-currency system. So that‘s to say, starting in 1994, selected banking business was permitted to operate alongside the banks authorized by the Central Bank. Each of them was free from its specificity and this performed and accelerated commercialization of the state-owned banks.Being a famous international bank, Bank of China has made a rapid development in recent years. Actually in line with the development of the international financial situation and to meet the needs of clients, the Bank has over recent years developed financial relations with foreign countries and have offered more diversified services, such as operation of state foreign exchange reserves, international settlement, supporting foreign trade, overseas business, credit cards and travelers checks, etc. The main functions of BOC are to raise, utilize, accumulate and manage foreign exchange funds, to issue Hongkong dollars and Macao potacas as well as foreign-currency bonds and other marketable securities, to engage in allkinds of foreign exchange business, and to participate in international financial activities.The major services provide by the Bank mainly involve the following five aspects; the first one is international trade and non-trade settlement, overseas Chinese remittances and other international remittances. The second one is inter-bank deposits and loans. The third one is Renminbi deposits and loans. The fourth one is foreign-currency deposits and loans. And the fifth one is buying and selling of foreign exchange and bullion trading in the international markets.After China‘s participation in the WTO and with the global financial integration, the Bank quickly brushes up its technology advancement, develops more new products, enlarges and widens its service scope to get itself into the line with world banking industry, and meanwhile fights against its internal risk to win a best profit.In order to mange and dispose the non-performing assets, the China Orient Management Corporation was set up after approval by the State Council and the People‘s Bank of China. So the non-performing assets can be stripped off from the BOC step by step, and then managed and disposed in line with the principle of preserving state assets and minimizing losses.Unit TwoBanking SystemPassage One: Banking System in ChinaAfter more than two decades of rapid development, China is now moving towards a modern and market-oriented banking structure to meet the needs of the country‘s increasing growth and development. Especially after mid 1990, banks in China began to pay attention to capital adequacy requirements, non-performing and bad loans, profitability and also overall expansion strategy.In order to better meet the demand of the economic reform, the new banking system is taking shape. Now we have the central bank—the People‘s Band of China, some domestic policy banks, some state commercial banks transformed from specialized state-banks and newly emerged commercial banks. Also there are other banking institutions such as investment bank, investment companies and securities corporations etc.The People‘s Bank of China supervises all the state-owned commercial banks and all the other commercial banks, including non-banking financial institutions. It has an extensive branch network all over the country. Since 1998, it has a completely new allocation of its branches, with a replacement of regional management. As central bank, it will formulate and implement monetary policies, execute supervision and control power over the banking industry. In our country under the leadership of the State Council, the main functions of the Central Bank are to formulate and implement monetary policies to supervise and administrate banking institutions in accordance with regulations and laws, to supervise and control the financial markets, to promulgate ordinances and rules concerning financial administration and business, to hold, administrate and manage the state foreign exchange reserve and bullion reserve, to manage the state treasury, to maintain the normal operation of the systems for making payments and setting accounts, to be engaged in relevant international banking operations in its capacity as the central bank of the state, and to be responsible for statistics, investigation, analysis and forecasting the whole banking industry of China and the world.Being a central bank, the PBC doesn‘t operate any business directly, but it may use the financial instruments to implement the monetary policies. The PBC can use the monetary policies instruments such as adjusting the base interest rate and the minimum deposit reserve proportion, regulating rediscounting and opening market operations. According to the central bank law, the PBC has the right to exam and approve the establishment, change, termination and the scope ofbusiness of banking institutions. It has empowered to audit, check and supervise the banking institutions.Passage Two: The U.S. Banking SystemThe Banking system in the United States is highly complex and has a unique structure. Most countries have a single central bank, closely controlled by the central government, and a small number of commercial banks with many branches. Instead of a single central bank, the United States has a central baking system with twelve separately incorporated Federal Reserve banks located throughout the country. About twelve thousand commercial banks, four thousand S&Ls, twenty thousand credits unions, and thousands of other types of financial institutions help our money economy operate.For most of the period from the American Revolution up to the establishment of the FRS in 1913, the nation operate without a formal central bank. The creation of credit and the issuance of paper currency were largely controlled by individual bankers. All commercial banks chartered before the Civil War and most of those chartered afterward were chartered by state governments. Consequently, the restrictions and conditions of bank operations varied widely. Given this heterogeneity in nineteenth century banking institutions, it is amazing that the nation developed a workable mechanism of credit creation and an acceptable means of exchange. To understand the present banking structure, one must know something about U.S. history and the political controversies that have shaped it. Issues such as state or federal control, concentration of economic power, and the geographically dispersed nature of the population affected commercial banking and central banking.After the American Revolution, the first private banks were established. These banks could have developed along one of two possible courses – branch banking or unit banking. With unit banking, each bank is a separate organization serving primarily its immediate area. A branch banking system may have hundreds or even thousands of banking offices, which are all part of the same institution. Thus, branch banking tends to decrease the overall number of independent banks but increases the total number of banks in each geographic market area.No U.S. bank operates nationwide in the strictest sense of the world. Although this is rapidly changing with the use of electronic banking, bank holding companies, and more liberal interstate banking restrictions, until recently few banks operated in more than one state.The regulations concerning domestic branches are drawn up by the 50 states and apply without distinction to bothstate banks and national banks (those that hold a federal charter). A federally chartered bank must, by federal regulation, abide by the branching laws of the state where it operates. Until recently, banks could operate domestic branches, if at all, only in the state where the head office is located. Of those states where branch banking was permitted, only about half authorized banks to organize branches anywhere in the state. The other states allowed branches to open only in part of the state.What developed was essentially a unit banking system, with very limited branching in some states. This unit banking system originated in many of the political, social, and economic values within the country following the Revolution. The majority of the population were self-sufficient farmers; manufacturing was still in its infancy. Interstate trade was not important, and people did not know about the factors, such as banking, that facilitate this trade.At the time, it was not generally recognized how important commercial banks could be to economic development. Some people saw them as a stimulant to capital formation; others felt that banks merely lowered the quality of a nation‘s money supply because the bank‘s notes and deposits put ―good‖ metallic coins out of circulation. This controversy closely mirrored the controversy between the Federalists, who favored centralizing political power, and the Republicans, who championed state s‘ rights and the benefits these accorded to individuals. Clearly, banking development in the United States cannot be divorced from the wider controversy over political rights and powers.By 1811, there were 88 commercial banks in the United States which, with two exceptions, had been chartered by state legislatures. Some bank charters contained rigid specifications concerning the minimum capital stock and the maximum ratio of notes to specie. But often they were not restrictive, and states varied a great deal in banking regulations. Banks in large eastern cities generally operated more conservatively and restricted their loans and note issue to conform to the amount of specie held. Banks in the South and West were usually more liberal. Urban banks tended to be more conservative than rural banks, and overall bank quality deteriorated as one moved away from the major financial centers.These quality differences between banks created a discounting price mechanism for various commercial bank notes. Notes readily convertible into specie circulated at par, and those with reduced or limited convertibility were discounted up to as much as 50 percent. This discount on notes increased with the distance of note circulation from the bank of issue, and there is evidence that the heterogeneous nature of the money stock created problems in exchange and tended to restrict the use of many bank notes to local trade. The absence of uniform banking regulations precluded establishing a nationalcurrency and may have retarded economic growth in the country prior to the Civil War.True or False:1.The United States has no single central bank as most other countries do.2.Since the U.S. had no formal central bank, it was impossible to form a workable mechanism of credit creation and anacceptable means of exchange.3. A branch-banking system may have hundreds or even thousands of banking offices but no head office.4.As the regulations about domestic branches were drawn up by the 50 states, they mean the same to both national banksand state banks.5.If it is a federally chartered bank, it does not necessarily obey the branching laws of the state where it operates.6. A unit banking system means every bank is a separated one without any branches in other state where it operates.7.The U.S. has a unique banking system whose development can‘t be divorced form the controversy over political rightsand powers.8.The discounting price mechanism for various commercial bank notes grew out of the quality differences of the notesconvertible into specie.Passage Three: Major types of financial intermediaries of U.K.A. Clearing banksClearing banks are the dominating financial intermediaries in retail banking business in the UK, these banks come under the auspices of the British Bankers Association to handle the clearing functions of banks.These bank groups are responsible for most of the country‘s cash distribution and moneytransfer functions, which include cheque payment services, bank giro credit system, standing orders, direct debits, credit card services and electronic fund transfers etc.In addition to the money transfer functions, the banks also offer the same regular services totheir customers including deposit services, loans, overdrafts, corporate finance business and management advice, international finance and money exchange, leasing services and personal finance, etc.The clearing banks are also responsible for the collection of banknotes from the Bank ofEngland and their distribution to various other banks.Most of these clearing banks are the London ―High Street Banks‖. They include:Abbey National plc. Midland Bank plc.Bank of Scotland National Westminster Bank plc.Barclays Bank plc. Royal Bank of Scotland plc.Clydesdale Bank plc. Standard Chartered BankCo-operative Bank plc. TSB Group plc.Girobank plc. Yorkshire Bank plc.Lloyds Bank plc.The retail branch network of the above banks is extensive with over 10,000 branches in the UK. Among these banks, Goribank Group operates through over 20,000 post offices.B. Discount housesBefore September 1983, the discount houses were classified as a British bank group for statistical purposes. Later on, the discount houses have been separated from the main banking group. The discount houses established their own association called the London Discount Market Association.Discount houses provide a primary channel through which the Bank of England operates in the discount market to implement its monetary policy. Because of their easy access to the money market, discount houses act as market-makers in bills since they are the major underwriters of the weekly issues of the Treasury bills of the Bank of England. Therefore, discount houses provide not only short-term funds for the government, but also a channel for banks to adjust their portfolio holdings, i.e. liquidity positions. The rate at which the Bank of England lends to the discount houses has a significant impact on interest rates. Some of the well-known Discount Houses are:The Union Discount HousesAlexanders Discount Co.King & ShaxsonCater, AllenGerrard & NationalC. Merchant banks and acceptance houseWith a long history as an international trading nation, the UK merchant banks developed its unique character.Originally developed to handle businesses consisting of accepting bills or offering acceptance credit facilities in connection with trade, they later expanded into foreign trade, foreign exchange and bullion dealings.Many of the merchant banks are also acceptance house. Indeed, their functions have now expanded into major overseas operations, specializing in company financial advice, takeovers and mergers, underwritings which include the provision of additional capital through shares floatation in various financial centers. Some of the best known merchant bankers are:Hambros Bank Lazard Brothers & Co.Samuel Montague & Co. Rea BrothersMorgan Grenfell & Co. Hill Samuel & Co.N.M. Rothschild & Sons Robert FlemingD. Finance house and Building SocietiesUnder the current UK definition, finance houses and building societies are classified as non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFI). Although these two financial intermediaries are called ―non-bank‖, there is no clearly defined rule as to when a financial intermediary is ―non-bank‖ because of the complexity of its operations. For example, the building societies have already expand their services such as deposit-taking, and resemble those of the commercial banks. The classification, in this respect, is more for statistical recording.(i)Finance HousesFinance houses are licensed deposit-taking institutions which specialized in money lending,particularly on the retail side of the business which includes a wide spectrum of personal lending activities. These include activities in the field of hire purchase of deferred payment schemes in a variety of areas relating to consumer goods such as cars, refrigerators, furniture and television.Finance houses obtain their funds mainly from institutional investors, through the inter-bank market and the negotiable certificate of deposit market. Many of the finance houses are subsidiaries of major banks in the UK. Thus, the parent banks may also be the main supplier of funds to the finance house.(ii)Building SocietiesBuilding societies originated in the provision of housing finance to their members. They are―mutual‖corporations in that the customers are also the shareholders. Although building societies are not entirelyprofit-oriented, they form an important part of the financial intermediaries sector of the UK financial system. Their main objective is still based on the provision of loans for housing. The building societies dominate the real estate market with more than 75% of the total mortgage debt currently outstanding in the UK.In recently years the building societies have started to offer new services ranging from deposit accounts, ordinary share accounts, to save-as-you-earn facilities. The building societies have also begun to go into the electronic teller system and credit card facilities. Besides, the building societies have already had access to the clearing system, thus allowing them to offer cheque accounts. The main building societies in the UK are Nationwide, Halifax, Woolwich and Alliance & Leicester.E. Foreign banksThe foreign banks in the UK are divided into American, Japanese and other overseas banks. Their presence is either in the form of branches, subsidiary companies, or simply representative offices. Although this bank group provides wide variety of services, it dominates the foreign currency exchange business. Their balance sheets demonstrate that over 80% of their assets and liabilities are currently denominated in foreign currencies.Initially, foreign banks came to the UK mainly because of international trade between their countries and other nations. But as the international financial systems are changing (for example, the expansion of the Eurocurrency market and the rapid development of the European community), there must be yet further growth for foreign bank‘s participation. In order to gain access to the London financial market, foreign banks can set up consortium banks with a British bank as one of the parents, to carry on international banking business.Unit ThreeCentral BankPassage One:Possible relationship between a country’s central bank and its central government1. DefinitionCentral bank is the bank in any country which is authorized by the government of the country to control the amount of credit in the country, to supervise the operations of the commercial banks, to carry out the business of the government and to maintain its accounts, to control the note issue and the country‘s reserves and to preserve the value of the country‘s currency on the foreign exchanges. Such a bank may be working under a finance ministry, as in the U.K., or enjoying a greater degree of independence from governmental control, as in Germany or the United States.2. There are two possible relationships between a country’s central bank and its central government: Independence & Subservience.1). Independence central bankAn independent central bank is one that has complete autonomy to determine the nation‘s monetary policy. Government public servants and elected officials may comment on monetary policy but the governor of the bank is under no obligation to take into account the views of anyone other than his or her own staff and board of directors. The argument for an independent central bank is that it enables monetary policy to be formulated with a long-term view of maintaining stable prices and prevents monetary policy from being used for short-term, political advantage. Countries that have independent central banks today are Germany, the United States and Switzerland. If the EC eventually adopted a single currency, it is generally expected that the new European central bank in control of that currency would be an independent central bank on the model of the German Bundesbank.When the Bank of England was founded, in 1694, it was privately owned bank. However, we have seen that it had privileges conferred on it by the government, and in an effort to retain these privileges it was always mindful of the wishes of the government. Thus it was never wholly independent in practice. Its independence ceased in principle in 1947 when it was bought by the government. Since 1979 the government has privatized many nationalized concerns, but there has not。