bank of scotland

Bank of Scotland
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Not to be confused with Royal Bank of Scotland.
Bank of Scotland plc
Type Subsidiary
Founded 1695
Headquarters North Bank Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
Key people Susan Rice Managing Director
Industry Finance and insurance
Products Financial services
Employees 20,000
Parent Lloyds Banking Group
Website www.bankofscotland.co.uk
The Bank of Scotland plc (Gaidhlig " Banca na h- Alba") is a commercial and clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a history dating to the 17th century, it is the second oldest surviving bank (the Bank of England having been established two years before) in what is now the United Kingdom, and is the only commercial institution created by the Parliament of Scotland to remain in existence. It was also the first bank in Europe to print its own banknotes. The Bank of Scotland continues to print its own sterling banknotes under legal arrangements which allow some UK banks to issue currency.

On 17 September 2007 The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland became Bank of Scotland plc, as part of the HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006.

Since 19 January 2009 the Bank of Scotland has formed part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the acquisition of HBOS plc by Lloyds TSB.

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Establishment
1.2 18th and 19th centuries
1.3 20th century
1.4 International expansion
1.5 Formation of HBOS
1.6 HBOS Reorganisation Act
1.7 Lloyds Banking Group
2 Banknotes
2.1 Banknote history
2.2 1995 series
2.3 Current 2007 series
3 Gaelic policy
4 Corporate structure
5 List of Governors of the Bank of Scotland
6 Football sponsorship
7 Notes
8 See also
9 External links



[edit] History

[edit] Establishment
The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland was established by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland on 17 July 1695,[1] the Act for erecting a Bank in Scotland, opening for business in February 1696. Although established soon after the Bank of England (1694), the Bank of Scotland was a very different institution. Where the Bank of England was established specifically to finance defence spending by the English government, the Bank of Scotland was established by the Scottish government to support Scottish business, and was prohibited from lending to the government without parliamentary approval.[1] The founding Act granted the bank a monopoly on public banking in Scotland for 21 years, permitted the bank's directors to raise a nominal capital of £1,200,000 Pound Scots (£100,000 Pound Sterling), gave the Proprietors (shareholders) limited liability, and in the final clause (repealed only in 1920) made all foreign-born Proprietors naturalised Scotsmen "to all Intents and Purposes whatsoever".[1] John Holland, an Englishman, was one of the bank's founders.[1] Its first chief accountant was George Watson.[2]


[edit] 18th and 19th centuries
The Bank of Scotland was suspected of Jacobite sympathies[1] and as a result the Bank's monopoly ended in 1716, and its first rival, the Royal Bank of Scotland was formed by Royal Charter in 1727.[1] This led to a period of great competition between the two banks as they set to drive each other out of business.[1] Although the "Bank Wars" ended in around 1751,[1] competition soon arose from other sources, as other Scottish banks were founded throughout the country.[1] In response, the Bank of Scotland themselves began to open branches throughout Scotland. The first branch in London opened in 1865.[3]

The bank also took the lead in establishing the security and stability of the entire Scottish banking system, which became more important after the collapse of the Ayr Bank in 1772,[4] in the crisis following the collapse of the London house of Neal, James, Fordyce and Down. The Western Bank collapsed in 1857, and the Bank of Scotland stepped in with the other Scottish banks to ensure that all Western Bank's notes were paid.[5]