Financial Institutions

Financial Institutions

The present short essay is an attempt to briefly survey important financial institutions on a global scale. Very broadly defined, a financial institution supplies financial services to its clients. A bank provides such services and is chartered by the respective government in that respect. Other similar word uses may refer to slightly different meanings such as the World Food Bank. The World Bank and IMF (International Monetary Fund) are prominent international business world players.

There is a distinction between commercial (for profit) and central banking. Individuals cannot open an account with the central bank, only the government; individuals must go to the commercial banks. Statistical tools and mathematical models greatly facilitate financial forecasting. Proficiency in the banking industry most often than not requires a thorough knowledge of the underlying numerical concepts. Central banks operate in most countries to ensure financial stability and avoid the bank panics and failures seen during the Great Depression. Many other organisations collectively make sure that the country’s financial health is well monitored.

In Canada, in addition to the central bank (the Bank of Canada), the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) protects patrons’ funds within certain conditions. The American counterpart is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). A skeptical point was raised by a good acquaintance of ours, in that if one of the big five banks were to fail, then the whether they needed protection or not would take second place to the disarray that would likely have engulfed the economy. Perhaps. But perhaps also, having the system in place prevents any such awful outcome, just as in the psychological construct of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Aside from major Canadian banks discussed at length elsewhere on the present Website, there are many insurance companies, trust funds and credit unions.

A deep financial will. Photo by Elena

Deutsche means German, in German, the official language of the European Union, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium and one of the four official languages of Switzerland alongside Italian, French and Romansh. Before the European Union instituted one sole currency, the Euro, Germany used Deutsche marks. The German mark underlined reunification when it replaced the East German mark in 1990. The Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) is a massive institution with over 100,000 employees and more than 1,900 trillion in total assets as recorded in 2010. Germany’s central bank is the Deutsche Bundesbank.

If was one is fortunate enough to grace the streets of Montreal’s Old Port, then some of the most beautiful buildings there are the city’s banks. Given the prominent role that banks play in economic development, it is to be expected that those monuments would testify to that. Assuredly, aside from the breathtaking Notre-Dame Basilica, renovated in 2011, Old Montreal has much to offer in terms of architecture and sightseeing.