An account of the principal phases in the development of the English banking system, and an analysis of the financial structure of the economy of the UK. The book focuses in detail on the regulatory and supervisory aspects of the UK banking system, and the interactions between the structural aspects of the banking and supervisory system.

A survey of past financial crises, starting with the great banking collapses of the interwar period. The current turmoil has prompted a number of questions regarding both its origins and ways to avoid its repetition. The historical background and the evolving institutional framework of banking and financial systems are at the center of this book.

This books explains, on the basis of archival evidence and a simple economic model, why and how the gold standard collapsed in the interwar period. It also reveals how bilateralism and dirigisme in international financial relations emerged from the collapse of the universal gold standard, and how this poisoned international relations.