In the United Kingdom, financial institutions are categorized into two ma]or groups: the Recognized Banks and the Licensed Deposit Institutions. The criteria for each category are determined by the Bank of England~——the Central Bank. The Bank of England will consider the size of the institution, its management and also the number of participants who effectively direct the business, before decisions are made on the status of the financial institutions who apply for bank licenses in the United Kingdom.
Let us look at the Recognized Banks.
These banks provide a wide range of highly specialized banking services. According to the Banking Act 1979. "Recognized Banks" must satisfy the Bank of England of their high reputation and of their integrity, management and financial prudence. The wide range of services include: i. the acceptance of sight and time deposits）; ii. loan and overdraft facilities; iii. foreign currency exchange and documentary credits and collections~; iv. financial advice for corporations and individuals; v. investment management and arrangements for the purchase and sale of securities.
As for Licensed Deposits institutions, they only provide a limited range of services. The prime services are still based on the acceptance of deposits from the public although they are not required to satisfy the rules laid down for Recognized Banks. To obtain a license, the institution must satisfy the Bank of England's requirement that all directors, controllers or managers of the institution must be an appropriate and proper person to hold that position and to conduce banking business in a proper manner.
Let us now look at the major types of financial intermediaries~ in the United Kingdom.
To begin with, we shall examine the role of the Clearing Banks. These are the dominating financial intermediaries in retail banking business~ in the United Kingdom. They handle the clearing functions of banks, and are responsible for most of the country' s cash distribution and money transfer functions, which include cheque payment services and also electronic fund transfers, etc.; The retail branch network of these banks is extensive with over 10,000 branches all over the country.
Another type of financial intermediaries in the United Kingdom are discount houses. Discount houses provide a primary channel through which the Bank of England operates in the discount market to implement its monetary policy. Because of their easy access to the money market, discount houses act as market-maker in bills since they are the major underwriters of the weekly issuers of the Treasury bills of the Bank of England. Therefore, discount houses not only provide short-term funds for the government, they provide a channel for banks to adjust their portfolio holdings, i.e., their liquidity positions.
The third type of financial intermediaries in the UK are the merchant banks~ and acceptance houses. Originally developed to handle businesses connection with trade, these merchant banks later expanded into foreign trade, foreign exchange and also bullion dealers. Many of the merchant banks are also acceptance houses. Indeed, their functions have now expanded considerably into major overseas operations, specializing in company financial advice, takeovers and mergers, underwritings which include the provision of additional capital through share floatation.
Finally, we should look at foreign banks in England. As a major international financial centre, London has acted as a magnet to over 450 foreign banks, which have set up representative offices, branches, or subsidiary companies. Business focus on these foreign banks cover foreign currency dealings, international finance deals to foreign companies and governments, trade finance services to business.
参考资料
英国的银行体系
英国是世界上金融业最发达的国家之一。伦敦是英国的金融中心，也是世界上主要的国 际金融中心之一。伦敦的金融地位形成于英镑作为主要的国际储备货币的年代，而在二战后 随着英国经济地位的下降受到了削弱，但从本世纪七十年代以来随着美元危机和欧洲货币市 场的兴起，伦敦的金融中心地位又重新得到了恢复。
伦敦的优势在于具有相对稳定的．金融体系和政治环境，对国际银行业控制的相对自由，大批拥有丰富的专业知识和技能的银行家及不同层次的各种专业人材，优良的基础设施和通讯网络，在语言、时区及地理位置上的优越性等等。
除上述优势外，英国的银行体系也具有其自身的特点，下面我们分别加以介绍。
一、中央银行——英格兰银行
英格兰银行是英国的中央银行。1694年根据国王特准法成立，它是英国第一家注册的有限公司性质的股份银行。此时的英格兰银行并不是专门的中央银行，它同其它的私人银行一样，也办理一般的存放款业务。直到1833年，英国国会规定只有英格兰银行发行的钞票才具有无限法偿，从而奠定了英格兰银行作为英国中央银行的基础。1946年2月，英国政府颁布新的《英格兰银行法》，将英格兰银行的全部股本收归国有，从此，英格兰银行成为国有化的中央银行。
英格兰银行受政府财政部控制，为政府机构。英格兰银行在发表自身的观点上有一定的 独立性，是金融界中具有权威的代言人。英格兰银行除了依照银行法执行对银行业的监管之 外，还承担?了对金融市场的管理职能。英格兰银行在鼓励行业自律，尤其是在保险和证券业务中发挥了重要的作用。此外，英格兰银行还承担了管理英国的债务和外汇储备职能、管理和发行纸币及铸币的职能及政府的银行的职能，同时对政府的经济和货币政策提供顾问。
80年代以来调整后的英格兰银行的管理机构分为三大部分：（1）金融结构和监管，有银行监督处、金融结构和制度处。（2）政策和市场，有工业金融处、统计处、经济处、金边债券处、货币市场处、外汇处、地区处和国际处。（3）经营和服务，有营业部、注册处、印刷厂和工商服务部。
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