Banking in Scotland
Scotland also has its own banking system, which supports four major
international clearing banks:
- Bank of
Scotland
Headquartered in Edinburgh, this bank was founded in 1695 and is the oldest
bank in Scotland. Merged with the English Halifax Building Society in
2001 to create HBOS plc, one of the biggest banking groups in Britain.
- Royal Bank
of Scotland
Headquartered in Edinburgh and founded in 1727. In 2000, they acquired
the English bank NatWest in the biggest takeover in British banking
history. It is now one of the largest banks worldwide, owning the Direct
Line insurance group, Coutts Bank, the Ulster Bank and the Citizen Financial
Group in the USA.
- Clydesdale Bank
Headquartered in Glasgow. Founded in 1838, but since 1987 part of the
National Australia Bank Group.
- Lloyds TSB Scotland
Headquartered in Edinburgh. The Trustee Savings Banks which were started
in Scotland in 1810, were originally local banks run by a groups of trustees.
They were incorporated in Scotland in 1985 as the TSB Group, with shares
issued to the public the following year. In 1995 the group merged with the
English bank Lloyds.
- Further information is available from the
Committee of Scottish Clearing
Bankers
There are also a significant number of merchant banks
(for example the British Linen Bank) and other financial
institutions (including leading insurance companies and investment funds)
headquartered in Edinburgh, which is one of the world's
largest financial centres.
The Bank of England in Threadneedle Street, London is the U.K. equivalent
of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. It issues currency in the U.K. on behalf
of the government, under Royal Charters of 1694 and 1946.
However, the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale
Bank have all, by long standing tradition, issue their own banknotes.
These banknotes are widely used throughout Scotland, and are
generally accepted elsewhere in the United Kingdom, although strictly
are not legal tender. Visitors are advised to exchange Scottish notes before
leaving the U.K.
Scottish banknotes are available in the following denominations:
- £1
- £5
- £10
- £20
- £50 (Clydesdale and Royal Bank of Scotland only)
- £100
The Bank of England no longer issues £1 notes, since the
introduction of the £1 coin. The Scottish banks issue £100 notes,
whereas the Bank of England issues only the £50 note as its highest
denomination.
To further confuse the visitor,
other parts of the United Kingdom also issue their own banknotes, for
example Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
