Banco de España (History)

Originally named the Banco Nacional de San Carlos, its first director was French banker François Cabarrus, known in Spain as Francisco Cabarrús.
Following a series of wars between 1793 and 1814, the bank was owed more than 300 million reales by the state, placing it in severe difficulties.
Treasury minister Luis López Ballesteros created a fund of 40 million reales in 1829 against which the bank could issue its own notes within Madrid. It did so after renaming itself Banco Español de San Fernando.

Bank of Spain

In 1844 the competing Banco de Isabel II and Banco de Barcelona were established, followed in 1846 by the Banco de Cádiz. In 1847 following overexposure in the failing property market of Madrid, the Banco de Isabel II merged with Banco de San Fernando, retaining the latter's name.
Under the guidance of Ramón Santillán in the 1850s, the bank extended its operations to the cities of Alicante and Valencia and took its current name, Banco de España. Requiring financial support from the bank to back its civil and colonial wars, the government of Spain granted the Banco de España a monopoly on the issuance of Spanish bank notes in 1874. Construction of the bank's headquarters building began in the 1880s.
In 1936, 510 tonnes of gold reserves were transferred to the Soviet Union (in an event known as Moscow gold) corresponding to 72.6% of the total gold reserves of the Bank of Spain.
In 1946 after the Spanish Civil War, the government of General Franco placed the bank under tight control. It was formally nationalised in 1962. Following the restoration of democracy in the late 1970s, the bank began a series of transformations and modernisations which continue to today.
On Spain's entry into the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union in 1994, the Banco de España became a member of the European System of Central Banks.

Bank of Sudan (history)

In 1965, Bank of Sudan and Crédit Lyonnais formed a joint-venture bank name Al/An/El Nilein Bank (Nile Bank). Crédit Lyonnais contributed the two branches it had developed since it first entered Sudan in 1953. Bank of Sudan took 60 percent of the shares in Nilein Bank, and Crédit Lyonnais took 40 percent.

Sudan’s central bank

In 1970, the Sudanese government nationalized all the banks in the Sudan, changed the names of several, and put them under the Bank of Sudan. Barclays Bank, which had an extensive network of 24 branches, became the State Bank of Foreign Trade, and then Bank of Khartoum. The six branches of Egypt's Bank Misr became People's Cooperative Bank. The four branches of Jordan's Arab Bank became Red Sea Bank or Red Sea Commercial Bank (accounts differ). Commercial Bank of Ethiopia's one branch became Juba Commercial Bank. National and Grindlays Bank, which in 1969 had taken over the four branches that Ottoman Bank had established after it entered in 1949, became Omdurman Bank. In 1973 Red Sea Bank and People's Cooperative Bank were merged into Omdurman Bank. Then in 1984 Omdurman Bank merged with the Juba Commercial Bank to form Unity Bank.
In 1993, Al/An/El Nilein Bank merged with the Industrial Bank of Sudan to form Nilein Industrial Development Bank. In 2006, Dubai-based Emaar Properties and Amlak Finance acquired a 60% stake in Sudan’s El Nilein Industrial Development Bank; the Bank of Sudan retained a 40% stake.

www.wikipedia.com

The Deutsche Bundesbank

The Deutsche Bundesbank. (Bloomberg)

The Deutsche Bundesbank (German for German Federal Bank) is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Due to its strength and former size, the Bundesbank is the most influential member of the ESCB. Both the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Central Bank (ECB) are located in Frankfurt am Main. It is sometimes referred to as "Buba" for Bundesbank.
The Bundesbank was established in 1957 and succeeded the Bank deutscher Länder, which introduced the Deutsche Mark on 20 June 1948. Until the euro was physically introduced in 2002, the Deutsche Bundesbank was the central bank of the former Deutsche Mark ("German Mark", sometimes known in English as the "Deutschmark").
The Deutsche Bundesbank was the first central bank to be given full independence, leading this form of central bank to be referred to as the Bundesbank model, as opposed, for instance, to the New Zealand model, which has a goal (i.e. inflation target) set by the government.
The Bundesbank was greatly respected for its control of inflation through the second half of the 20th century. This made the German Mark one of the most respected currencies, and the Bundesbank gained substantial indirect influence in many European countries.

Bank of Italy

Palace Koch Headquarter of the Bank of Italy,
Via Nazionale Rome

Banca d'Italia (Italian for Bank of Italy) is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, Roma, via Nazionale. The bank's current governor is Mario Draghi, who took the office on 16 January 2006.
After the charge of monetary and exchange rate policies was shifted in 1998 to the European Central Bank, within the European institutional framework, the bank implements the decisions, issues euro banknotes and withdraws and destroys worn pieces.
The main function has thus become banking and financial supervision. The objective is to ensure the stability and efficiency of the system and compliance to rules and regulations; the bank pursues it through secondary legislation, controls and cooperation with governmental authorities.
Following reform in 2005, which was prompted by takeover scandals, the bank has lost exclusive antitrust authority in the credit sector, which is now shared with Italy's Antitrust Authority.
Other functions include, market supervision, oversight of the payment system and provision of settlement services, State treasury service, Central Credit Register, economic analysis and institutional consultancy.
Bank of Italy gold reserves are 2,451.8 tonnes (2006)

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group

 the building is affectionately known as Gothic Tower
 due to its architecture. Queen Street, Melbourne.

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ASX: ANZ, NZX: ANZ), commonly called ANZ, is the fourth largest bank in Australia, after the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation and the National Australia Bank. Australian operations make up the largest part of ANZ's business, with commercial and retail banking dominating. ANZ is also the largest bank in New Zealand, where the legal entity became known as ANZ National Bank Limited in 2004 and where it operates two brands, ANZ and the National Bank of New Zealand.
In addition to operations throughout Australia and New Zealand, ANZ also extends to twenty-five other nations.
ANZ was named the most sustainable bank globally in the 2008 Dow Jones Sustainability Index making it the 2nd year in a row ANZ has been granted the title. In 2007 the title was shared with another Australian bank, Westpac, which had held the title for the previous five years.

Bank of Scotland

Headquarters at North Bank Street, Edinburgh
(the street being named in honour of the bank moving there in 1806).

The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: 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 one year 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 a key part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB Group.

www.wikipedia.com

Bank of Canada

www.bankofcanada.ca

The Bank of Canada (French: Banque du Canada) is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament (the Bank of Canada Act) on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada. The Minister of Finance (on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada) holds the entire share capital issued by the Bank. "Ultimately, the Bank is owned by the people of Canada."
The role of the Bank is to "promote the economic and financial well-being of Canada."
The responsibilities of the Bank are: monetary policy; sole issuer of Canadian banknotes and currency; the promotion of a safe, sound financial system within Canada; and funds management and central banking services "for the federal government, the Bank and other clients."
The Bank headquarters are located at the Bank of Canada Building in the nation's capital Ottawa.