YOUNG AMERICANS BANK

Young Americans Bank has clients who stand no taller than T. Boone Pickens’ belt buckle. The bank makes Master Cards available to customers as young as 12. To qualify for the $95-a-year plastic credit card, the applicant must have an account at the bank and, if under 18, an adult cosigner. When the bank opened, it amused locals. But the bank is proving itself. It opened an impressive 5,000 accounts in the first seven months of business, has $1.3 million in capital, and plans to break even this year, even though the typical new bank takes three years to make a profit.

Junior patrons can open a checking account with as little as $10 and take out loans. The bank has lent money to buy a horse, to cut a record, and to start and sustain young businesses. «We get some in-credibly ambitious kids here» says Leanne Cadman, Young Americans loan administrator. «They’re 15, 16 years old, and they’re ready to make a million dollars.» The bank accommodates even the most pint-sized entrepreneur. It features steps to the teller windows and multilevel loan desks.

SAVINGS BANKS AND THE NATIONAL GIRO

There are two major savings banks, the National Savings Bank which is operated by the Post Office on behalf of the Department for National Sayings and the Trustee Savings Bank. Both banks provide deposit facilities for small savers and these are collected at 21 000 post offices (in the case of the NSB) and at 1 500 branches of the Trustees Saving Bank. The Trustees Savings Bank now provides a current account service (i.e. payments may be made by cheque ); the National Savings Bank does not provide such a service, but the Nattional Giro provides money transmission services. 

All of the assets of the National Saving Bank and greater part of the assets of the Trustees Savings Bank consist of government securities (i.e. loans to the government).

STRUCTURE OF THE BANKING SYSTEM OF UKRAINE

The evolution of the national banking system in Ukraine started in March, 1991, after the adoption of the Law of Ukraine «On Banks and Banking» by the Ukrainian Verhovna Rada. The Ukrainian banking system is a two-tier structure consisting of the National Bank of Ukraine and commercial banks of various types and forms of ownership including the state-owned Export-Import Bank and a specialized commercial Savings Bank.

The National Bank of Ukraine serves as the country’s central bank which pursues a uniform state monetary policy to ensure the national currency stability.

Commercial banks are formed as joint-stock companies or as companies on an equal footing with both legal and natural persons involved. The range of commercial banks activities includes: receiving deposits of enterprizes, institutions and households, crediting of economic entities and households, investments in securities, formation of cash balance and reserves, as well as other assets, cash and settlement servicing of the economy, foreign exchange operations and other services to natural persons and legal bodies.

THE COMMERCIAL BANKING MARKET STRUCTURE

The structure of the US banking system is unique in comparison with those of other countries around the world. The banking structure is often characterized by size distribution or by type of banks in the industry. As of the end of 1990, there were 12,672 insured US commercial banks operating in the United States, while in other countries a far smaller number of banks dominate in their domestic markets.

For example, in the UK six nationwide retail banks, together with seven regional retail banks, operate more than 12,000 branches throughout the country, dominating the domestic retail banking market. Similarly only eleven domestically chartered banks in Canada are major players in the domestic market, with over 7,000 branches nationwide. In Japan, there are seventy-five commercial banks which dominate retail and corporate banking markets. Out of this total number, eleven banks are so-called «city» banks having nationwide branches and the remaining sixty-four are «regional» banks.

THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

The London Stock Exchange currently comprises two separate markets: the main market (which accounts for the bulk of London Stock Exchange activity, in terms of both the number of securities listed for trading and in terms of turnover), and a ‘junior’ market, termed the Alternative Investment Market where the securities of some much smaller companies are traded.

Structure prior to October 1986. Prior to 27 October 1986 (‘Big Bang’), the London Stock Exchange operated a single-capacity trading system. This system meant that the membership of the London Stock Exchange was split into two groups, brokers and jobbers, each with sharply distinct functions.

Brokers (stockbrokers) were those members of the London Stock Exchange whose principal task was to execute orders for clients, whether private individuals or institutions Brokers were not permitted to deal with each other but were only permitted to buy securities from or sell securities to jobbers. Brokers charged a commission on all the deals they executed, with these commissions being subject to a minimum scale set by the London Stock Exchange, although many brokers supplemented their income by managing portfolios of securities, by selling investment advice and research findings, and other financial services.

ROLE OF THE CENTRAL BANK IN INTERBANK SETTLEMENT

In a complex banking system with many participants, it is inefficient for banks to establish large numbers of bilateral relationships and to hold many nostro accounts. Maintaining nostro accounts can be expensive, as the vostro banks will assess fees for the account and payment services they provide. More important, however, nostro accounts can absorb large amounts of liquidity when nostro banks try to maintain the precautionary balances needed to settle obligations and to meet minimum balance requirements established by vostro banks. Accordingly, there is a finite limit to the number of nostro accounts that banks will want to hold, which stimulates competition among the vostro banks.

International Trade and International Business

International trade is the system in which countries exchange goods and services. It occurs when a firm exports goods and services to consumers in another country.

International trade allows a country to specialize in the goods and services that it can produce at a relatively low cost and export those goods in return for imports, whose domestic production is relatively costly. International trade enables the country - and the world - to consume and produce more than would be possible without trade.

Aside from the tangible benefit of increasing the world’s output of goods and services, trade has intangible benefits as well.