Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Banking

Types of banks

Banks' activities can be divided into retail banking, dealing directly with individuals and small businesses; business banking, providing services to mid-market business; corporate banking, directed at large business entities; private banking, providing wealth management services to high net worth individuals and families; and investment banking, relating to activities on the financial markets. Most banks are profit-making, private enterprises. However, some are owned by government, or are non-profits.

Central banks are normally government owned banks, often charged with quasi-regulatory responsibilities, e.g. supervising commercial banks, or controlling the cash interest rate. They generally provide liquidity to the banking system and act as the lender of last resort in event of a crisis.

Types of retail banks

National Bank of the Republic, Salt Lake City 1908
National Bank of the Republic, Salt Lake City 1908
National Copper Bank, Salt Lake City 1911
National Copper Bank, Salt Lake City 1911
  • Commercial bank: the term used for a normal bank to distinguish it from an investment bank. After the Great Depression, the U.S. Congress required that banks only engage in banking activities, whereas investment banks were limited to capital market activities. Since the two no longer have to be under separate ownership, some use the term "commercial bank" to refer to a bank or a division of a bank that mostly deals with deposits and loans from corporations or large businesses.
  • Community Banks: locally operated financial institutions that empower employees to make local decisions to serve their customers and the partners
  • Community development banks: regulated banks that provide financial services and credit to under-served markets or populations.
  • Postal savings banks: savings banks associated with national postal systems.
  • Private banks: manage the assets of high net worth individuals.
  • Offshore banks: banks located in jurisdictions with low taxation and regulation. Many offshore banks are essentially private banks.
  • Savings bank: in Europe, savings banks take their roots in the 19th or sometimes even 18th century. Their original objective was to provide easily accessible savings products to all strata of the population. In some countries, savings banks were created on public initiative, while in others socially committed individuals created foundations to put in place the necessary infrastructure. Nowadays, European savings banks have kept their focus on retail banking: payments, savings products, credits and insurances for individuals or small and medium-sized enterprises. Apart from this retail focus, they also differ from commercial banks by their broadly decentralised distribution network, providing local and regional outreach and by their socially responsible approach to business and society.
  • Building societies and Landesbanks: conduct retail banking.
  • Ethical banks: banks that prioritize the transparency of all operations and make only what they consider to be socially-responsible investments.
  • Islamic banks: Banks that transact according to Islamic principles.

source : http://home-students.blogspot.com/2008/10/banking.html

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