# The wandering center of money Where the world kept its money: Florence, Venice, Bruges, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, New York, and the many-centered present. ## c. 1150 to c. 1320 — Champagne fairs as Europe's clearing house The fair towns of Champagne, led by Troyes and Provins, host cyclical trade fairs where Italian and Flemish merchants settle debts by letter of exchange. They serve as medieval Europe's main money market before Italian banking takes over. ## c. 1200 to c. 1600 — Venice as a medieval financial power Venice pioneers government bonds through its prestiti loans and hosts deposit banks around the Rialto that settle payments by book transfer. Its ducat and trade network make it a financial anchor of the Mediterranean for centuries. ## c. 1252 to c. 1494 — Florence as the banking capital of Europe Florence mints the gold florin in 1252 and its banking houses, from the Bardi and Peruzzi to the Medici, lend to kings and popes across Europe. The collapse of the Medici Bank in 1494 ends its dominance. ## c. 1280 to c. 1500 — Bruges as northern Europe's money market Italian bank branches and foreign merchant colonies make Bruges the financial hub of northern Europe. Traders meeting at the inn of the Van der Beurse family give the word bourse to the world, and the silting of its harbor helps shift business to Antwerp. ## 1397 — Founding of the Medici Bank Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici moves his bank's headquarters to Florence, founding the Medici Bank. It becomes the largest and most respected bank in fifteenth-century Europe and bankrolls the family's rise to power. ## c. 1500 to c. 1585 — Antwerp as the financial capital of Europe Antwerp handles a large share of world trade in the early sixteenth century and its bourse becomes the model for later exchanges. The Spanish capture of the city in 1585 and the blockade of the Scheldt drive its merchants and capital to Amsterdam. ## 1531 — Opening of the Antwerp Bourse Antwerp opens the world's first purpose-built exchange, dedicated to the merchants of all nations. The building becomes the template for bourses in London, Amsterdam and beyond. ## c. 1557 to c. 1627 — Genoa's age of the bankers Genoese merchant-bankers finance the Spanish crown and manage European payments through exchange fairs, a period historian Fernand Braudel called the age of the Genoese. Spanish state bankruptcies eventually erode their position. ## 1602 — Founding of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange Trading in shares of the newly chartered Dutch East India Company begins in Amsterdam, creating the world's first market in joint-stock company shares. It is widely counted as the first modern stock exchange. ## c. 1602 to c. 1795 — Amsterdam as the world's financial capital Home of the first joint-stock exchange and the Bank of Amsterdam, the city finances Europe's trade for nearly two centuries. The French occupation of 1795 and earlier crises end its primacy in favor of London. ## 1609 — Founding of the Bank of Amsterdam The city of Amsterdam establishes the Wisselbank to give merchants a stable unit of account amid a chaos of coinages. Its book-transfer payments make it a forerunner of modern central banking. ## 1694 — Founding of the Bank of England In 1694 a consortium of English bankers loaned 1,200,000 pounds to the king. In return they gained a royal monopoly on issuing banknotes, monetizing the royal debt. > "In 1694, a consortium of English bankers made a loan of £1,200,000 to the king. In return they received a royal monopoly on the issuance of banknotes." > — Debt: The First 5,000 Years ## 27 July 1694 — Founding of the Bank of England The Bank of England receives its royal charter to fund war against France. It anchors British public credit and becomes the model for central banks worldwide. ## c. 1700 — Geneva as a private banking and trading hub Geneva's private bankers financed European governments from the eighteenth century, including the French crown. Today the city is a major center for wealth management and commodity trade finance. ## 17 May 1792 — Buttonwood Agreement Twenty-four brokers sign an agreement, by tradition under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street, setting rules for trading securities. It is the founding document of what becomes the New York Stock Exchange. ## c. 1800 to c. 1914 — Paris as continental Europe's financial center The Banque de France, the haute banque houses and later giants like Credit Lyonnais make Paris the leading financial center of continental Europe. It exports capital across Europe, Russia and the Ottoman world until the First World War. ## c. 1815 — London as the world's financial capital After the Napoleonic Wars, London's merchant banks, the gold standard and the world's deepest capital market make the City the center of global finance. Overtaken by New York after 1914, it reinvents itself through the Eurodollar market and remains one of the top two financial centers today. ## c. 1848 — Chicago as the capital of futures trading The Chicago Board of Trade, founded in 1848, standardizes grain futures contracts and makes the city the world center of commodity trading. Financial futures and options invented in the 1970s keep Chicago at the heart of global derivatives markets. ## c. 1852 — Toronto as Canada's financial center The Toronto Stock Exchange dates to 1852, and Bay Street gradually displaces Montreal as Canada's financial capital during the twentieth century. The city hosts Canada's major banks and a leading market for mining and energy listings. ## c. 1855 to c. 1914 — Vienna as the Habsburg financial center Banks such as the Creditanstalt, founded in 1855, make Vienna the financial hub of the Habsburg empire and much of central and southeastern Europe. The 1873 stock market crash and then the First World War end its wider role. ## c. 1871 to c. 1931 — Berlin as Germany's financial center After German unification, Berlin's great banks such as Deutsche Bank and its bourse make it the financial center of the empire and a rival to Paris. Hyperinflation and the 1931 banking crisis destroy its international standing. ## c. 1875 — Mumbai as India's financial capital The Bombay Stock Exchange, founded in 1875, is Asia's oldest stock exchange. Home to the Reserve Bank of India, the National Stock Exchange and the headquarters of India's major banks, Mumbai is the financial capital of India. ## c. 1890 — Sao Paulo as Latin America's financial hub The Sao Paulo stock exchange dates to 1890, and the city grows with Brazil's coffee wealth and industry into the financial center of South America. Its B3 exchange is the region's largest. ## 23 December 1913 — Federal Reserve Act signed President Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act, creating a central bank for the United States. The new system underpins the dollar's rise to global dominance. ## c. 1914 — New York as the world's financial capital The First World War turns the United States into the world's creditor and shifts financial leadership from London to Wall Street. Home to the New York Stock Exchange, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the largest banks and asset managers, the city has topped global rankings ever since. ## c. 1920 to c. 1941 — Shanghai as the financial center of East Asia In the 1920s and 1930s the banks lining Shanghai's Bund make the treaty port the leading financial center of East Asia, with deep markets in money, gold and foreign exchange. War with Japan and then revolution end this first golden age. ## c. 1924 — Boston as an asset management center The first modern mutual fund, Massachusetts Investors Trust, launches in Boston in 1924. The city becomes a world center of asset management, home to Fidelity, State Street and other large fund houses. ## 29 October 1929 — Wall Street Crash of 1929 Share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapse on Black Tuesday after days of panic selling. The crash helps trigger the Great Depression and a decade of financial retrenchment worldwide. ## July 1944 — Bretton Woods Conference Delegates from 44 Allied nations meet in New Hampshire to design the postwar monetary order. The conference pegs currencies to the dollar and creates the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. ## c. 1945 — Zurich as a global banking center Switzerland's neutrality, stable franc and bank secrecy draw international capital to Zurich after the Second World War. The city remains a leading center for private banking and wealth management, home to UBS. ## c. 1948 — Frankfurt as continental Europe's financial center With Berlin divided, West Germany's central bank and major commercial banks settle in Frankfurt after the Second World War. The Deutsche Boerse and, from 1998, the European Central Bank confirm it as the euro area's financial capital. ## c. 1963 — Luxembourg as a cross-border finance hub The listing of the first eurobond in 1963 launches Luxembourg as a center for international capital markets. It grows into the world's second-largest domicile for investment funds after the United States. ## c. 1968 — Singapore as Asia's offshore finance hub Singapore launches the Asian Dollar Market in 1968, when Bank of America opens the first offshore Asian Currency Unit there. Steady regulation and low taxes build it into one of the world's top financial centers for banking, foreign exchange and wealth management. ## c. 1970 — Hong Kong as Asia's international financial center From the 1970s Hong Kong grows into the main gateway between Chinese and global capital, with a leading stock exchange and a deep banking sector. It consistently ranks among the world's top financial centers. ## c. 1970 — San Francisco Bay Area as a finance and venture capital hub Long a West Coast banking center and birthplace of Bank of America, San Francisco becomes the capital of venture finance as Silicon Valley firms organize from the early 1970s. Technology wealth and fintech now place it in the top five of global financial center rankings. ## 15 August 1971 — Nixon ends dollar convertibility to gold President Richard Nixon suspends the dollar's convertibility into gold, ending the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates. Floating currencies open a new era of global capital markets. ## c. 1980 — Seoul as a rising financial center South Korea's industrial rise makes Seoul's Yeouido district the country's financial hub, home to the Korea Exchange and major banks. The city now ranks in the top ten of global financial center indices. ## c. 1980 — Sydney as Australia's financial capital Sydney overtakes Melbourne as Australia's financial center in the late twentieth century, and the national securities exchange formed in 1987 is based there. The city anchors one of the world's largest pension fund pools. ## c. 1980 — Tokyo as a global financial center Japan's export boom and the 1980s bubble briefly make the Tokyo Stock Exchange the largest in the world by market value. Despite decades of slow growth after 1990, Tokyo remains Asia's biggest economy's financial heart and a top-ten global center. ## 27 October 1986 — London Big Bang deregulation The London Stock Exchange abolishes fixed commissions and opens membership to foreign firms, switching to electronic trading overnight. The Big Bang restores London's place as a top global financial center. ## c. 1987 — Dublin as an international financial services hub Ireland opens the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin's docklands in 1987, using low taxes to attract global banks and fund administrators. The city becomes a major European base for investment funds and aircraft leasing finance. ## c. 1990 — Shanghai's return as a financial center The Shanghai Stock Exchange reopens in 1990 and the new Pudong district rises as China's financial showcase. The city again ranks among the world's top financial centers, hosting one of the largest stock markets by value. ## c. 1990 — Shenzhen as China's second exchange city The Shenzhen Stock Exchange opens in 1990 in the special economic zone bordering Hong Kong. It grows into one of the world's largest exchanges, focused on China's technology and growth companies. ## 1 July 1997 — Handover of Hong Kong Britain returns Hong Kong to China under the one country, two systems formula, which preserves the territory's separate currency, courts and financial rules. The arrangement keeps Hong Kong operating as China's international financial gateway. ## 1 January 1999 — Launch of the euro Eleven European Union countries fix their currencies to the new euro, managed by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. The single currency creates the world's second most important monetary area. ## c. 2004 — Dubai as the Middle East's financial hub The Dubai International Financial Centre opens in 2004 as an offshore zone with its own courts based on English common law. Dubai becomes the leading financial hub of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region and now ranks in the global top ten. ## 15 September 2008 — Collapse of Lehman Brothers The investment bank Lehman Brothers files the largest bankruptcy in United States history, turning the subprime mortgage crisis into a global financial panic. The crisis reshapes banking regulation worldwide.