Bank

A bank is a kind of financial organisation that takes deposits from the general public and produces demand deposits while also issuing loans. Lending operations may be carried out either directly by the bank or indirectly via the use of the capital markets.

Because banks play an essential role in a country's financial stability as well as its economy, most jurisdictions place a high level of regulation on the financial institutions in their jurisdiction. In most countries, a system known as fractional reserve banking has been institutionalised, under which banks keep liquid assets that are equivalent to just a part of their current obligations. In addition to other rules aimed at ensuring liquidity, banks are usually subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, the Basel Accords, which are designed to protect investors.

In many ways, banking in its modern sense evolved in the fourteenth century in the prosperous cities of Renaissance Italy, but it was a continuation of ideas and concepts of credit and lending that had their origins in the ancient world. Banking in its modern sense emerged in the fourteenth century in the prosperous cities of Renaissance Italy, but it was a continuation of ideas and concepts of credit and lending that had their origins in the ancient world. Many banking dynasties have played a significant part in the development of the financial industry throughout history, including the Medicis, the Fuggers, the Welsers, the Berenbergs, and the Rothschilds, to name a few examples. The oldest current retail bank is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (established in 1472), while the oldest existing commercial bank is Berenberg Bank (formed in 1892). The oldest existing merchant bank is Berenberg Bank(founded in 1590).