Baring Brothers and Company, Ltd

one of the most influential English banking houses, a bank of both acceptance and issue. It was organized in 1763 by the German-born brothers John and Francis Baring. In 1890 it was on the verge of bankruptcy because of the failure of banks, railroad companies, and other Argentinian enterprises to which it had extended credit and also because of the monetary demands of the Russian government bank’s current account. With the help of the Bank of England, it resumed activity.

The bank acts as an intermediary in the issue of securities (including those for foreign countries), and it credits foreign trade by means of acceptance and discounting of foreign trade bills of exchange; according to English law it has the right to make transactions with gold and foreign exchange. It is linked by personal ties with a group of leading English commercial banks: Glyn, Mills and Company; Williams Deakon’s; the Royal Bank of Scotland; the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank; and the British Bank of the Middle East; as well as with a number of industrial companies. In the USA it is affiliated with the Morgan group. The shareholders of the bank are a narrow circle of members of the Baring family, constituting an influential group in English finance. The bank has great influence in the English government. Its main office is in London. In early 1968 the bank’s balance was £105,900,000, and it had £84.9 million in deposits.