Английский язык 3,5 года / Английский язык / Лариса Анато / 58

Раздел V

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merchant banks, branches of overseas banks, discount houses and banking subsidiaries of both banking and non-banking institutions from Britain and overseas.

Retail Banks

Retail banks primarily serve individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. The major retail banks operate through more that 12,148 branches offering cash deposit and withdrawal facilities and systems for transferring funds. They provide current account facilities, including interest-bearing accounts; deposit accounts; various types of loan arrangement; and offer an extending range of financial cervices.

Building Societies

Building societies started in the late 18th century to pool money to build houses and to buy land. They currently compete with the retail banks to attract savings from and provide mortgage finance for the personal sector. Today, they hold more savings than the other deposit-taking institutions. Building societies are "mutual" institutions, owned by their savers and borrowers. Since the Building Societies Act 1986 the societies have been able to provide a wider range of services.

International Banks

In March 1994, there were 255 branches of foreign banks in Britain which, together with firms dealing in foreign securities, employ over 60,000 British people. The majority are based in London, including Moscow Norodny Bank, Bank of China and 38 Japanese banks. Citibank of

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the US is the largest of the 42 banks from the US based in Britain and has extended its activities into the retail banking market and joined the clearing system.

Merchant Banks

Merchant Banks are so called because they originate from large merchants engaging in banking activity. Their traditionally important roles were helping foreign governments to raise loans and accepting Bills of Exchange but they are today involved in a range of activities including corporate finance, foreign exchange dealings and securities trading.

National Savings

National Savings aids government borrowing via a range of savings instruments. These include fixed interest and index-linked Savings Certificates, First Option Bonds and Premium Bonds among others. Part of National Savings, the National Savings Bank, formerly the Post Office Savings Bank until 1969, was set up in 1861 offering deposit services to customers through some 20,000 Post office branches. It does not operate in the same way as a retail bank or building society. The National Savings Bank had 20.7 million Ordinary and Investment accounts in June 1994. These amount to some 10.6 billion pounds of the National Savings total which was over 49.4 billion pounds in June 1994.

Discount Houses

The discount houses are unique to Britan and occupy a central position in the British monetary system. They act

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