The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of banking and the role played by banks in an increasingly complex financial world. It begins with a review of the meaning of banking, identifying the features of banks that distinguish them from other financial institutions. The most common forms of organisational structure for banks in the developed world are reviewed in section 1.3. Sec…
Private sector banks play a significant role in the financial system and the real economy. They intermediate between all sectors of the economy and other financial intermediaries and institutions, and some of them provide the payments system, which most of us use every day. Banks are innovative, largely a function of intense competition, and they are therefore at the forefront of new developmen…
The New Jersey railway station was bitterly cold that night. Flurries of the year's first snow swirled around street lights. November wind rattled roof panels above the track shed and gave a long,mournful sound among the rafters. It was approaching ten P.M., and the station was nearly empty except for a few passengers scurrying to board the last Southbound of the day. The rail equipment was typ…