There are more than 60 banking institutions
in the City of Manchester, (including some 40 from overseas),
bearing witness to the boast that Manchester transacts more international
finance than any other region in the country. For example, the
Bank of England maintains its largest regional office in Manchester
and the Co-operative Bank and Davenham's merchant bank have headquarters
in the city.
There are
over 15,000 people employed in some form of banking in the city
of Manchester. Of these, the Co-operative Bank is commonly regarded
as the most "modern" of banks in the United Kingdom and it commands
respect throughout the world. It virtually dominates local authority
financing in Britain, particularly in handling accounts for secondary
and higher education.
The Co-op
is regarded as a most ethical bank, and has set a standard which
the other banks are beginning to emulate.
All the major
clearing banks are represented in Manchester, of which Barclays,
Midland, NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland are most well
known. ABN-AMRO and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank are Manchester's
two biggest overseas banks, covering the whole of Northern England
and Scotland from their Manchester offices, the former focusing
on larger companies, the latter on traders and import-exporters.
One of the
two Japanese banks in the city, Fuji Bank, specialises in financial
services, and there are half a dozen merchant banks in the city
with clients nationwide.
Rothschild's,
before moving to London, began life in Manchester. The banks arrange
a wide range of services from privatisation and floatation to
commercial banking and international treasury consultancy.
Quite apart
from the bigger national banks, private banks are continually
increasing in number in Manchester. In 1993 Coutts, the Royal
bankers, set up in the city and the Midland Private Bank recently
announced plans to begin operations in the North West.
