This is the first serious history of merchant banking, based on the archives of the leading houses and the records of their activities throughout the world. It combines scholarly insight with readability, and offers a totally new assessment of the origins of one of the most dynamic sectors of the City of London money market, of the British economy as a whole and of a major aspect of the growth of international business. Dr Chapman has researched new material from the archives of Rothschilds, Barings, Kleinwort Benson and other leading houses together with a wide range of archives and published work in Europe, America and South Africa to trace the roots of British enterprise in financing international trade, exporting capital, floating companies, arbitrage, and other activities of the merchant banks. While mindful of the subtleties of international financial connections, this book assumes no previous acquaintance with the jargon of banking, economics and sociology. It will therefore prove equally interesting to students of history, business and finance, and offers a 'good read' to anyone interested in the City of London and the international economy.

"This book examines the ascendancy and decline of the British merchant banking industry over the last 200 years. It illustrates the central role these institutions played in the growth and development of the global and domestic economy and assesses their prospects and influence in a continuously changing environment." "The origins, ascendancy, triumphs, contributions, failures and decline of these institutions are analysed with reference to the external forces which shape them, from the dawn of merchant banking in the 18th century, to the peak years of dominance in the 19th century, and into the challenging War and post-War years when power and influence were lost to European universal banks and US global financial conglomerates."--BOOK JACKET.

This fascinating chronicle of the world's great financial families offers candid profiles of the personalities behind seven legendary banking houses: Hambros, which now survives in name only; Barings, the oldest British banking dynasty; the Rothschilds, who amassed the largest private fortune in modern history; the Warburgs, a German dynasty of Venetian origin dating from the sixteenth century; the venerable Hermann Josef Abs, long-time chairman of Deutsche Bank; Lehman Brothers, formerly the oldest continuing partnership in American investing; and the eccentric and culturally savant financier Raffaele Mattioli, who headed Banca Commerciale Italiana. Focusing on figures of late-nineteenth-century London, this chronicle marks the distinctions between the cloistered Old World aristocracy and the rise of the high-stakes investors of Wall Street. Written by a longtime correspondent for the New Yorker, this fascinating account of daring financial adventures and their merchant banker orchestrators provides a wealth of context for understanding the evolution of modern investment banking. A new Foreword has been written specially for this edition by Christopher Kobrak, Wilson/Currie Chair of Canadian Business and Financial History at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Dover (2014) republication of the edition originally published by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1966. See every Dover book in print at www.doverpublications.com

J.Henry Schroder Wagg & Co has been a leading merchant bank of the City of London for more than a century. This book tells its history, from its founding in 1818 by John Henry Schroder, a Hamburg merchant, through difficult times in the international slump of the early 1930s, to its rise to one of the largest and most prestigious of city firms in London today.

From Crisis to Crisis examines the impact of the harsh conditions of the interwar economy on the British merchant banks. The financial crises of 1914 and 1931 are assessed using primary sources. The competitive threats, including the rise of New York as a rival financial centre, are considered. It challenges alleged special treatment and provides fresh perspectives on the interwar rationalisation of industry. During the late nineteenth century, Britain’s merchant banks had become pre-eminent in a world of fixed exchange rates, free trade and the unfettered mobility of international capital. This world was increasingly challenged in the interwar period, being replaced by floating exchange rates, trade protectionism and restrictions on capital movements. This book fills a gap in the historiography of British banking by recovering the histories of long-forgotten merchant banks rather than focusing on the better-known firms. Using a wide range of archival resources, it traces the strategic transformation by some merchant banks from higher-risk, capital intensive activities to lower-risk, advisory services. Brian O’Sullivan has been jointly awarded the 2019 BAC Wadsworth Prize for From Crisis to Crisis: The Transformation of Merchant Banking 1914-1939. It was judged by the Business Archives Council (BAC) to have made an outstanding contribution to the study of British business history. Brian shared the prize with Professor Priya Satia of Stanford University in California.

`...useful reading for anyone interested in the antecedents of today's vibrant international financial markets.' --

A revolution took place in the City in the 80s and 90s. The cosy club of British merchant banking collapsed in a series of sell-outs, closures and scandals. This left the City dominated by US and European giants. Was this the inevitable result ofglobalization or did mismanagement play a part? This is the first book to look at how and why the British merchant banks and brokers sold out, and where that leaves us. Augar tells this fascinating story with pace and drama, taking us through the Thatcher years, the crash of 1987, Big Bang, and the aggressive invasion of the American banks. He looks at why the British banks failed to keep pace with the Americans, what this says about the way they were run, and what this means for the future.

The National Book Award–winning history of American finance by the renowned biographer and author of Hamilton: “A tour de force” (New York Times Book Review). The House of Morgan is a panoramic story of four generations in the powerful Morgan family and their secretive firms that would transform the modern financial world. Tracing the trajectory of J. P. Morgan’s empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the financial crisis of 1987, acclaimed author Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the family’s private saga and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved—a world that included Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Franklin Roosevelt, Nancy Astor, and Winston Churchill. A masterpiece of financial history—it was awarded the 1990 National Book Award for Nonfiction and selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth Century—The House of Morgan is a compelling account of a remarkable institution and the men who ran it. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the money and power behind the major historical events of the last 150 years.

How a vast network of shadow credit financed European growth long before the advent of banking Prevailing wisdom dictates that, without banks, countries would be mired in poverty. Yet somehow much of Europe managed to grow rich long before the diffusion of banks. Dark Matter Credit draws on centuries of cleverly collected loan data from France to reveal how credit abounded well before banks opened their doors. This incisive book shows how a vast system of shadow credit enabled nearly a third of French families to borrow in 1740, and by 1840 funded as much mortgage debt as the American banking system of the 1950s. Dark Matter Credit traces how this extensive private network outcompeted banks and thrived prior to World War I—not just in France but in Britain, Germany, and the United States—until killed off by government intervention after 1918. Overturning common assumptions about banks and economic growth, the book paints a revealing picture of an until-now hidden market of thousands of peer-to-peer loans made possible by a network of brokers who matched lenders with borrowers and certified the borrowers’ creditworthiness. A major work of scholarship, Dark Matter Credit challenges widespread misperceptions about French economic history, such as the notion that banks proliferated slowly, and the idea that financial innovation was hobbled by French law. By documenting how intermediaries in the shadow credit market devised effective financial instruments, this compelling book provides new insights into how countries can develop and thrive today.