The British banking system is a tripartite system headed by the central Bank of England. It controls the banking system, issues currency, and manages the country's gold reserves and national debt. The other two layers are commercial banks like Barclays and HSBC that serve individuals and businesses, and specialized institutions like merchant banks and discount houses that provide financial services to large corporations.

1. Unit 6.
BANKING IN ENGLAND

2. ENGLISH SYSTEM OF BANKING
 Today the British banking is a
complicated tripartite system. They
system is headed by the Bank of
England. The Bank of England is a
central bank or a national bank. It
controls the British banking system,
issued banknotes and mints coins. It
lends and borrows money for the
government, manages the national debt
and is in the control of the nation’s gold
reserve. The other two layers are:
 the commercial or joint stock clearing
banks
 specialized banking institutions such as
the discount houses and merchant banks.

3. THE COMMERCIAL OR JOINT-STOCK BANKS.
 The commercial or joint-
stock banks deal with the
general public. The four
large English commercial
banks are known as the Big
Four. They are Barclays,
Lloyds, the Midland, and the
National Westminster.
together they have upwards
of 10,000 branches.
Commercial banks render
various services to
companies and individuals.

4. HSBC.
 HSBC Holdings plc (commonly known
as HSBC) is a British multinational banking
and financial services company
headquartered inLondon, HSBC is a universal
bank and is organised within four business
groups: Commercial Banking; Global Banking
and Markets (investment banking); Personal
Financial Services (retail banking and
consumer finance); and Global Private
Banking. It has around 7,200 offices in 85
countries and territories across Africa, Asia,
Europe, North America and South America
and around 89 million customers.[a quarter in
the Americas and a quarter in Asia.

5. MERCHANT BANKS AND DISCOUNT HOUSES.
 Merchant banks and discount
houses deal only with special
customers providing funds for
special purposes. They accept
commercial bills of exchange and
offer quite a lot of financial
services. They provide advisory
services about new issued of
securities, mergers, take-overs
and reorganizations. They also
arrange financing for their
customers and provide fund-
management services.