# Money and finance The system that turns savings, credit, banks, and currency into power: coinage, paper money, central banks, finance hubs, the IMF, the BIS, and quantitative easing. *This story part of: The bankers* *This story part of: The history of money* *This story parallel: The IMF, the World Bank, and the developing world* *This story parallel: The central bankers and the road to war* *The bankers part of this story* *Anatomy of a superpower: the American state part of this story* *The history of money part of this story* *The Rothschilds part of this story* *The Rockefellers part of this story* *The house of Morgan part of this story* *The Medici part of this story* *The Bank for International Settlements part of this story* *The IMF, the World Bank, and the developing world part of this story* *The pillars of modern power part of this story* *Education systems of the world part of this story* *The Chicago School and the rise of neoliberalism part of this story* *The occult symbols and where they come from part of this story* *The PayPal Mafia and Silicon Valley power part of this story* *Neocolonialism: independence without economic freedom part of this story* *The Kenya Police: from colonial force to a record of crimes part of this story* *Jews, moneylending, and the story of banking part of this story* *The Dutch Empire: the VOC and the golden age part of this story* *Oil: the industry that fueled the modern world part of this story* *The multinational corporation and the nation-state part of this story* *The history of accounting part of this story* *Countries run like corporations: state capitalism and company sovereigns part of this story* *The global drug trade and how it ties to everything part of this story* *The passing of the torch: how the American century replaced the British one part of this story* *The petrodollar order: the dollar without gold part of this story* *The London School of Economics: Fabians, the economics wars, and the making of an elite part of this story* *Agenda 2030: the UN framework and the national visions part of this story* *Kenya's web of agreements: the treaties that bind a state part of this story* *Tax havens: the offshore world and grand corruption part of this story* *Swiss neutrality: the vault and the wartime record part of this story* *The Fragile States Index: ranking who has failed part of this story* *American Viscose and the stripping of Britain part of this story* *1973: the postwar order breaks part of this story* *1971: the dollar unchained part of this story* *Paper money, central banks, and credit creation part of this story* *Reichsbank: independence, hyperinflation, and Hitler part of this story* *Japan's wartime command economy part of this story* *Occupation Japan keeps the controls part of this story* *The Bank of Japan's window-guidance machine part of this story* *Japan's miracle: guided credit and export power part of this story* *The lost decade: credit crunch, stimulus, and broken banks part of this story* *Big Bang Japan: the Ministry of Finance loses power part of this story* *From Bretton Woods to the euro: monetary regimes around Japan part of this story* *Nazi ideology was not unique: race myth, empire, and extermination part of this story* *How the West supported the Nazis: finance, appeasement, and Cold War bargains part of this story* *Keynesian economics: demand, depression, and the fight over full employment part of this story* ## c. 10000 BCE — Barter and the limits of direct exchange Before money, people swapped goods and services directly, but barter required a double coincidence of wants where each side had to want what the other offered. This friction pushed communities toward widely accepted goods that could stand in for value. ## c. 9000 BCE — Cattle as an early store of value Herding societies used cattle and other livestock as a measure of wealth and a means of payment. The Latin word for money, pecunia, derives from pecus, meaning cattle. ## c. 3200 BCE — Temple and palace accounting economies Early Mesopotamian temples and palaces tracked stores of grain, livestock, and labor on clay tablets, one of the first uses of writing. These ledgers recorded credit and debt long before coins existed. ## c. 3100 BCE — Grain as a unit of account in Mesopotamia Sumerian temple and palace economies measured debts, wages, and rents in fixed quantities of barley. Grain served as a standard of value alongside weighed silver. ## c. 3000 BCE — The Mesopotamian shekel and silver by weight The shekel began as a unit of weight, roughly eight grams of barley or silver, and became a standard for pricing goods and settling debts. Payments were made in weighed silver rather than in stamped coins. ## c. 2500 BCE — Hacksilver and payment by weighed metal Traders cut silver objects and ingots into pieces and weighed them out to make payments. This use of bullion by weight bridged commodity money and later stamped coinage. ## c. 1754 BCE — The Code of Hammurabi sets prices in silver Hammurabi's law code fixed wages, fees, and penalties in weighed silver and grain. It shows a society using standardized value measures to regulate trade and debt. ## c. 1500 BCE — Cowrie shells used as currency Cowrie shells circulated as money across parts of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific for millennia because they were durable, hard to counterfeit, and easy to count. Shang dynasty China used them widely, and the shells remained in use in some regions into the twentieth century. ## c. 600 BCE — First coins minted in Lydia The kingdom of Lydia struck the first known coins from electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver, stamped to certify their weight. Standardized coinage made trade faster by removing the need to weigh metal for each transaction. ## c. 550 BCE — Croesus issues the first bimetallic coinage The Lydian king Croesus replaced electrum with separate pure gold and pure silver coins at a fixed ratio. This bimetallic system set a model for later coin economies. ## c. 550 BCE — The Aeginetan silver stater The island of Aegina struck silver staters marked with a turtle, among the earliest coins in the Greek world. Aeginetan coins circulated widely across the Aegean. ## c. 515 BCE — The Persian daric Darius I introduced the gold daric and silver siglos as an imperial coinage for the Achaemenid Empire. The daric became a trusted gold coin across the ancient Near East. ## c. 510 BCE — The Athenian owl and the drachma Athens minted silver tetradrachms stamped with the owl of Athena, backed by the rich silver mines at Laurion. The drachma became a leading trade currency across the Mediterranean. ## c. 221 BCE — The round coin and Chinese cash under the Qin After unifying China, the Qin standardized currency on the round bronze coin with a square central hole, the ban liang. This shape defined Chinese cash coins for the next two thousand years. ## c. 211 BCE — Rome introduces the denarius Rome created the silver denarius during the Second Punic War, and it became the backbone of Roman money for centuries. The coin's name survives in later currencies and in the abbreviation d for the penny. ## c. 118 BCE — The Han wu zhu coin Emperor Wu of Han standardized the bronze wu zhu coin, which stayed in production in various forms for over seven hundred years. It gave China a stable and long-lived unit of small change. ## c. 50 BCE — Salt as a medium of exchange Salt was valued for preserving food and was traded across long distances as a form of payment. Its economic importance survives in words and phrases tied to wages and value. ## c. 250 — Cacao beans as money in Mesoamerica Maya and later Aztec societies used cacao beans as a common medium of exchange for goods in the marketplace. The beans could buy food and other everyday items and were counted out for small transactions. ## c. 250 — Debasement of Roman coinage To fund wars and spending, Roman emperors repeatedly cut the silver content of the denarius until it held almost no precious metal. The falling quality of coins fed rising prices and eroded trust in the currency. ## 301 — Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices Facing severe inflation, the emperor Diocletian set legal ceilings on the prices of goods and wages across the empire. The edict was widely ignored and did little to halt rising prices. ## c. 309 — The Byzantine solidus Constantine introduced the gold solidus, which held its weight and purity for centuries and became a trusted currency across the medieval Mediterranean. Its stability earned it a reputation as the dollar of the Middle Ages. ## 621 — The Tang kaiyuan tongbao The Tang dynasty issued the kaiyuan tongbao bronze coin, which set the standard for East Asian cash for centuries. Its weight became a basic unit in the Chinese system of measures. ## c. 696 — Abd al-Malik reforms the dinar and dirham The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik issued a purely Islamic coinage, the gold dinar and silver dirham, bearing inscriptions rather than images. These coins circulated widely across the Islamic world and beyond. ## c. 794 — Carolingian monetary reform Charlemagne standardized coinage on the silver denier and set the accounting system of pounds, shillings, and pence. This framework shaped European money for a thousand years. ## c. 800 — Tang flying cash Merchants in Tang China used paper certificates called feiqian, or flying cash, to transfer value over distance without carrying heavy strings of coins. These credit notes were a forerunner of true paper money. ## c. 1000 — The rai stones of Yap Islanders on Yap used large carved limestone disks called rai as a store of value and for major transactions. Ownership could change without moving a stone, since the community tracked who held each one. ## c. 1023 — Jiaozi, the first paper money Private merchants in Sichuan issued paper notes called jiaozi, and the Song government took over their issue in the early eleventh century. This was the world's first government-backed paper currency. ## c. 1119 — Founding of the Knights Templar Banking Network The Knights Templar, a military order founded to protect pilgrims, builds Europe's first international banking network. Pilgrims deposit funds at one Templar house and withdraw them at another using letters of credit, an early form of long-distance banking. ## 1252 — The Florentine florin Florence struck the gold florin, which held a consistent standard and became a leading currency for European trade and banking. Its reliability made it a benchmark for merchants across the continent. ## c. 1260 — Yuan dynasty paper currency Under Kublai Khan the Yuan dynasty made paper money the main currency across its empire and required its acceptance. The traveler Marco Polo described the system with astonishment in his account of China. ## 1284 — The Venetian ducat Venice introduced the gold ducat, which kept its weight and purity for over five centuries. It became one of the most widely accepted trade coins in the Mediterranean and the Levant. ## 22 March 1312 — Suppression of the Knights Templar Pope Clement V dissolves the Templar order under pressure from King Philip IV of France, who owed the order large sums and had arrested its members in 1307. The suppression destroys medieval Europe's leading financial institution. ## c. 1367 — Founding of the Fugger Banking House Hans Fugger, a weaver, settles in Augsburg in 1367 and builds a textile trading firm. Under Jakob Fugger the Rich it becomes Europe's dominant banking house, financing Habsburg emperors and controlling copper and silver mining. ## 1375 — The Great Ming Treasure Note The Ming dynasty issued the Great Ming Treasure Note as a single national paper currency. Overissue without adequate backing led to steep loss of value over time. ## 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. ## 1407 — Founding of the Bank of Saint George Genoa creates the Banco di San Giorgio to consolidate the republic's public debt, issuing tradable shares to its creditors. It is often called the world's first modern public bank and operated until 1805. ## 1472 — Founding of Monte dei Paschi di Siena Siena founds a monte di pieta, a charitable lender meant to offer credit to the poor as an alternative to moneylenders. Reorganized in 1624, it survives as Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world's oldest bank still in operation. ## c. 1600 — Wampum used as money in North America Indigenous peoples of the northeastern woodlands strung beads made from shells, called wampum, and used them for exchange and record keeping. European colonists later adopted wampum as legal tender in several colonies. ## 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. ## 1657 — Founding of Stockholms Banco Johan Palmstruch founds Stockholms Banco, which in 1661 issues the first banknotes in Europe. Overissue of notes ruins the bank by 1664 and its failure leads directly to the creation of the Riksbank. ## 1661 — Stockholms Banco issues Europe's first banknotes Stockholms Banco, led by Johan Palmstruch, issued the first banknotes in Europe as receipts that could circulate in place of heavy copper coins. The bank later collapsed after printing too many notes. ## 17 September 1668 — Founding of Sveriges Riksbank The Swedish parliament establishes Riksens Standers Bank from the wreckage of the failed Stockholms Banco. Renamed Sveriges Riksbank, it is the world's oldest surviving central bank. ## 1690 — Founding of Barclays Quaker goldsmith bankers John Freame and Thomas Gould begin trading on Lombard Street in London. The firm takes the Barclay name in the 18th century and grows into one of the world's largest banks. ## 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 ## 1694 — The Bank of England and its notes The Bank of England was founded to lend money to the government and began issuing notes payable in gold. Its notes became a trusted paper currency and a model for later central banks. ## 1695 — Founding of the Bank of Scotland The Scottish Parliament charters the Bank of Scotland one year after the Bank of England. Unlike its southern neighbor it is founded to support business rather than government, and it is among the first European banks to issue paper currency successfully. ## 1717 — Isaac Newton fixes the price of gold As master of the Royal Mint, Isaac Newton set the mint price of gold in a way that overvalued it against silver. This pushed Britain toward a de facto gold standard well before it was made official. ## 1720 — John Law and the collapse of the Banque Royale The Scottish financier John Law set up a French national bank that issued paper money tied to the Mississippi Company. The scheme ended in a speculative bubble and a crash that soured France on paper money for decades. ## 1765 — Founding of Lloyds Bank Button maker John Taylor and iron dealer Sampson Lloyd found Taylors and Lloyds, a private bank serving Birmingham's growing industry. It becomes Lloyds Bank, one of Britain's big clearing banks. ## 1775 — American Continental currency The Continental Congress printed paper money to fund the American Revolution. Rapid overissue caused the notes to lose almost all value, giving rise to the phrase not worth a Continental. ## 7 January 1782 — Founding of the Bank of North America Chartered by the Continental Congress at Robert Morris's urging, the Bank of North America opens in Philadelphia as the first bank in the United States. It helps finance the final stage of the Revolutionary War. ## 1789 to 1796 — Assignats of the French Revolution Revolutionary France issued paper notes called assignats, backed by confiscated church land. Heavy overprinting drove severe inflation until the notes became nearly worthless. ## 25 February 1791 — Founding of the First Bank of the United States Congress charters Alexander Hamilton's national bank to manage federal finances and establish American credit, over fierce objections from Jefferson and Madison. Its 20-year charter is not renewed in 1811, failing by a single vote in each chamber. ## 1800 — Founding of the Banque de France Created with Napoleon Bonaparte's blessing to bring order to France's chaotic currency, the Banque de France opened on 18 January 1800. Napoleon himself bought thirty of its shares. > "The Banque opened its doors on January 18, 1800, or according to the calendar of the Revolution then in force, on the 28th day of Nivose, the month of snow, in the year VIII." > — Lords of Finance ## 16 June 1812 — Founding of Citibank The City Bank of New York is chartered days before the War of 1812 begins, serving New York merchants. It grows into Citibank, for much of the 20th century the largest bank in the United States and a pioneer of global banking. ## 10 April 1816 — Founding of the Second Bank of the United States President Madison signs the charter of a second national bank to stabilize currency chaos after the War of 1812. Under Nicholas Biddle it becomes the young republic's most powerful financial institution and the focus of a bitter political fight. > "In 1816, the postwar boom was full on" > — The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, p. 360-364 ## 1821 — Britain adopts the classical gold standard Britain formally tied the pound to a fixed quantity of gold and made banknotes redeemable in gold coin. This anchored the currency and set the pattern other nations would follow. ## 1850 — Founding of Lehman Brothers German immigrant brothers Henry, Emanuel, and Mayer Lehman turn their Alabama dry goods store into a cotton trading firm named Lehman Brothers. It moves to New York and evolves into one of Wall Street's major investment banks. ## 18 March 1852 — Founding of Wells Fargo Henry Wells and William Fargo found a banking and express company in New York to serve gold rush California, opening for business in San Francisco that summer. It becomes one of the largest banks in the United States. ## 5 July 1856 — Founding of Credit Suisse Politician and businessman Alfred Escher founds Schweizerische Kreditanstalt to finance Switzerland's railway network. It grows into Credit Suisse, one of the world's major banks and a pillar of Swiss finance for 167 years. ## 15 May 1857 — Founding of Banco Santander A royal decree authorizes a bank in the port city of Santander to finance trade with Latin America. Through 20th-century expansion and acquisitions it becomes the largest bank in the eurozone by market value. ## 1862 — Founding of Standard Bank The Standard Bank of British South Africa is chartered in London in 1862 and opens its first branch in Port Elizabeth in 1863, financing the Eastern Cape wool trade. It grows into Africa's largest banking group by assets. ## 1862 — Founding of UBS The Bank in Winterthur is founded to serve Swiss trade and industry, the earliest root of the Union Bank of Switzerland. The 1998 merger of Union Bank of Switzerland with Swiss Bank Corporation creates UBS, the world's largest wealth manager. ## 1862 — The United States greenback To finance the Civil War, the Union issued paper notes called greenbacks that were legal tender but not redeemable in gold. They marked a major move toward government-issued paper money in the United States. ## 4 May 1864 — Founding of Société Générale Napoleon III authorizes Societe Generale to promote the development of commerce and industry in France. It becomes one of France's three great banks and a major international lender. ## 3 March 1865 — Founding of HSBC The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opens in Hong Kong to finance trade between Asia, Europe, and North America. It becomes one of the world's largest banks and the dominant financial institution of East Asian trade. ## 1869 — Founding of Goldman Sachs German immigrant Marcus Goldman begins trading commercial paper in New York; his son-in-law Samuel Sachs later joins the firm. Goldman Sachs becomes one of the world's most powerful investment banks. ## 10 March 1870 — Founding of Deutsche Bank The Prussian government licenses Deutsche Bank in Berlin to finance foreign trade and free German commerce from dependence on British banks. It grows into Germany's largest bank and a global investment banking power. ## 1871 — Founding of J.P. Morgan & Co. Drexel, Morgan and Co. is formed in New York, renamed J.P. Morgan and Co. in 1895. Under Pierpont Morgan it finances railroads and the creation of US Steel and General Electric, and acts as America's de facto central banker before the Federal Reserve exists. ## c. 1871 to c. 1914 — The international gold standard at its peak By the late nineteenth century most major economies had pegged their currencies to gold, creating fixed exchange rates and a broadly stable system for global trade. The arrangement lasted until the outbreak of the First World War. ## 1873 — The Coinage Act of 1873 The United States ended the free coinage of silver and moved toward a gold standard, a change critics called the Crime of 1873. The decision fed decades of political conflict over the money supply. ## 1 January 1876 — Founding of the German Reichsbank The Reichsbank opened as the central bank of the newly unified German Empire, replacing the Prussian Bank. It managed the gold-backed mark and became one of Europe's most powerful monetary institutions. ## 1 January 1876 — Founding of the Reichsbank The newly unified German Empire establishes the Reichsbank as its central bank, unifying note issue across the German states. It presides over the 1923 hyperinflation and is succeeded after World War II by the Bank deutscher Lander and then the Bundesbank. ## 1880 — Founding of Mitsubishi Bank The Mitsubishi zaibatsu founds its banking arm in Tokyo, which becomes the financial core of one of Japan's great industrial groups. Through the 2005 merger creating Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group it anchors Japan's largest bank. ## 10 October 1882 — Founding of the Bank of Japan The Meiji government establishes the Bank of Japan to centralize note issue and stabilize the currency after inflationary war finance. It becomes the model-driven central bank of Asia's first industrial economy. ## 9 July 1896 — Bryan's Cross of Gold speech William Jennings Bryan attacked the gold standard and called for the free coinage of silver to ease debt burdens on farmers. His speech made bimetallism a central issue in American politics. ## 1900 — The US Gold Standard Act of 1900 Congress formally placed the United States on the gold standard, ending the long dispute over silver. The dollar was defined in terms of gold alone. ## 17 October 1904 — Founding of Bank of America Amadeo Giannini opens the Bank of Italy in San Francisco to serve immigrants and working people the big banks ignored. Renamed Bank of America in 1930, it pioneers branch banking and becomes one of the largest banks in the world. ## 20 June 1907 — Founding of the Swiss National Bank Switzerland's central bank opens for business, taking over note issue from dozens of cantonal and private banks. It becomes guardian of the Swiss franc, one of the world's key reserve currencies. ## 5 February 1912 — Founding of the Bank of China After the fall of the Qing dynasty, the imperial Da-Qing Bank is reorganized as the Bank of China under the new republic. It serves at times as central bank and foreign exchange bank, and today is one of China's big four state banks. ## 23 December 1913 — Founding of the Federal Reserve President Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act, creating a central banking system of twelve regional banks after the Panic of 1907 exposed the need for a lender of last resort. The Fed becomes the most influential central bank in the world. ## 23 December 1913 — Founding of the US Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve Act created a central banking system for the United States after repeated banking panics, most recently the Panic of 1907. It set up twelve regional reserve banks, of which the New York Fed became the most influential. ## 1914 — Founding of Merrill Lynch Charles Merrill opens a brokerage in New York, joined months later by Edmund Lynch. The firm brings Wall Street to Main Street with retail stockbroking and is sold to Bank of America in September 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. ## 30 June 1921 — Founding of the South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank opens in Pretoria as the first central bank in Africa. It takes over note issue from commercial banks and becomes the anchor of the continent's largest financial system. ## 1923 — The German hyperinflation of 1923 Germany printed vast amounts of money to cover debts and reparations, and prices spiraled so fast that banknotes became nearly worthless within hours. The episode became the classic example of hyperinflation destroying a currency. ## 7 June 1929 — The Young Plan for German reparations A committee chaired by American businessman Owen D. Young produced a plan to reorganize Germany's World War I reparations. The plan proposed a new international bank to handle the payments, which became the Bank for International Settlements. ## 17 May 1930 — Basel base and legal immunities The BIS was based in Basel and given unusual legal protections under a host agreement with Switzerland. Its premises, assets, and archives are largely immune from Swiss jurisdiction, taxation, and search, which later drew both scholarly and conspiracy-minded attention. ## 17 May 1930 — Founding of the Bank for International Settlements The BIS opens in Basel, created to handle German war reparations under the Young Plan. It survived as the bank for central banks and the oldest international financial institution. ## 17 May 1930 — The United States stays out officially while private banks join The Federal Reserve did not formally join the BIS because the Hoover administration opposed official involvement in reparations. American participation came instead through private banks led by J.P. Morgan and two large national banks. ## September 1931 — Britain leaves the gold standard Amid the Great Depression Britain abandoned the gold standard, letting the pound float. Many other countries soon followed, marking the collapse of the interwar gold system. ## 1 April 1935 — Founding of the Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India begins operations in Calcutta as the central bank of British India, later moving to Bombay. Nationalized in 1949, it manages the currency and banking system of what becomes the world's most populous country. ## 16 September 1935 — Founding of Morgan Stanley When the Glass-Steagall Act forces J.P. Morgan to choose between commercial and investment banking, partners Henry Morgan and Harold Stanley spin off a new securities firm. Morgan Stanley becomes one of Wall Street's leading investment banks. ## 1944 to 1946 — Founding of the World Bank (IBRD) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was created at Bretton Woods to rebuild war-torn Europe and later fund development. It made its first loan, to France, in 1947. ## 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. ## July 1944 — The Bretton Woods Agreement Allied nations agreed to a system of fixed exchange rates in which currencies were tied to the US dollar, and the dollar was convertible to gold. The deal also created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. ## c. 1944 — Weighted voting and the quota system Voting power at both institutions is tied to financial contributions rather than one country one vote, giving the United States an effective veto over major decisions. Supporters call it realistic; critics call it a democratic deficit. ## 27 December 1945 — Founding of the International Monetary Fund The IMF's Articles of Agreement, drawn up at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, enter into force when 29 countries sign, creating the institution charged with stabilizing exchange rates and the international monetary system. ## c. 1946 — The US and European leadership convention By informal agreement the World Bank has always been led by an American and the IMF by a European. Critics argue this convention reflects the outsized influence of rich creditor nations over institutions that lend mainly to poorer ones. ## 1 December 1948 — Founding of the People's Bank of China The People's Bank of China is formed in Shijiazhuang by merging three communist regional banks, issuing the first renminbi on the same day. It becomes the central bank of the world's second largest economy. ## 1950 — The Diners Club charge card Diners Club launched a card that let members charge meals at participating restaurants and pay the bill later. It was the first widely used general charge card and a step toward modern payment cards. ## c. 1950 to c. 1970 — The shift from reconstruction to development With Europe's recovery largely funded by the US Marshall Plan, the World Bank turned its attention to loans for infrastructure and development in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This redefined the institution's core mission. ## 10 July 1951 — Founding of the Agricultural Bank of China The Agricultural Cooperation Bank is founded to serve rural China, and after several reorganizations is re-established as the Agricultural Bank of China in 1979. It is one of China's big four banks, with the country's largest branch network. ## 1 October 1954 — Founding of China Construction Bank The People's Construction Bank of China is founded to channel state funds into construction and infrastructure under the planned economy. It becomes China Construction Bank, one of the world's largest banks. ## 20 July 1956 — Founding of the International Finance Corporation The IFC was created as the World Bank Group's private-sector arm, investing directly in companies in developing countries. It expanded the group's mandate beyond loans to governments. ## 1957 — Founding of the Bank of Ghana Ghana establishes its central bank in the year of independence, among the first in sub-Saharan Africa after decolonization. It issues the cedi and manages monetary policy for West Africa's second largest economy. ## 1957 — Founding of the Deutsche Bundesbank West Germany creates the Bundesbank in Frankfurt as an independent central bank, shaped by memories of hyperinflation. Its fierce commitment to price stability makes it the model for the later European Central Bank. ## 1958 — BankAmericard and the modern credit card Bank of America issued BankAmericard, which offered revolving credit rather than a bill due in full each month. It grew into the network that later became Visa. ## 1958 — Founding of the Central Bank of Nigeria Nigeria's central bank is established by ordinance in 1958 and opens in Lagos in 1959, ahead of independence. It issues the naira and oversees the banking system of Africa's most populous country. ## 24 September 1960 — Creation of the International Development Association The IDA was established to lend to the poorest countries on concessional terms, with low or no interest and long repayment periods. It became the World Bank's main channel for aid to low-income nations. ## 1961 — Founding of the Central Bank of Egypt Egypt establishes a dedicated central bank in Cairo, separating central banking functions from the National Bank of Egypt founded in 1898. It manages the Egyptian pound and one of Africa's largest banking systems. ## 1966 — ICSID and the settlement of investment disputes The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes was created within the World Bank Group to arbitrate disputes between states and foreign investors. Critics later argued its rulings could constrain the policy choices of developing governments. ## 14 September 1966 — Founding of the Central Bank of Kenya Kenya establishes its central bank after the dissolution of the East African Currency Board, opening in Nairobi in September 1966. It issues the Kenyan shilling and anchors East Africa's largest financial sector. ## 27 June 1967 — The first ATM Barclays installed the first automated teller machine, letting customers withdraw cash without a bank teller. The machine began the shift toward self-service banking. ## 1968 to 1981 — The McNamara era and the growth of development lending Under president Robert McNamara the World Bank sharply expanded its lending and shifted its stated focus toward poverty reduction. The rapid growth of loans also helped build the debt burdens that would strain many countries in the 1980s. ## 1969 — Creation of Special Drawing Rights The IMF created Special Drawing Rights as an international reserve asset to supplement member countries' official reserves. The move reflected the Fund's evolving role as the postwar fixed exchange-rate system came under strain. ## 15 August 1971 — Nixon closes the gold window President Richard Nixon suspended the dollar's convertibility into gold, ending the Bretton Woods system. The move ushered in an era of floating exchange rates and fiat currency. ## 15 August 1971 to 1973 — The collapse of the Bretton Woods exchange system When the United States ended the dollar's convertibility to gold in 1971, the system of fixed exchange rates the IMF was built to police broke down. The Fund reinvented itself around crisis lending and policy advice. *Source: Nixon Ends Convertibility of U.S. Dollars to Gold and Announces Wage/Price Controls* ## 1973 — Currencies begin to float After the fixed-rate system broke down, major economies let their currencies float against one another with values set by markets. Floating exchange rates became the norm for the world's leading currencies. ## 1973 — The founding of SWIFT Banks created SWIFT, a shared messaging network for sending secure instructions about international payments. It became the backbone of cross-border money transfers between banks. ## 1 January 1984 — Founding of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China China spins the commercial banking business of the People's Bank of China into a new institution, completing the creation of the big four state banks. ICBC becomes the largest bank in the world by assets. ## 1988 — Founding of MIGA The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency was added to the World Bank Group to insure foreign investors against political risk in developing countries. It completed the group's five-institution structure. ## 1998 — PayPal and online payments PayPal grew out of a startup founded in 1998 and let people send money by email, which made online commerce practical for individuals and small sellers. It became a leading way to pay on the early internet. ## 1 June 1998 — Founding of the European Central Bank The ECB is established in Frankfurt to run monetary policy for the coming single currency, launched in 1999. It becomes the central bank for the euro, the money of some twenty European countries. ## c. 1998 — Central bank independence becomes standard Through the late twentieth century many countries gave their central banks legal independence to set interest rates and target inflation without direct political control. The founding of the European Central Bank reflected this widely adopted model. ## 1 January 1999 — The euro is introduced Eleven European countries adopted the euro as an accounting currency, fixing their exchange rates and pooling monetary policy under the European Central Bank. It was the largest voluntary currency union in modern history. ## 2000 — Founding of BNP Paribas Banque Nationale de Paris merges with investment bank Paribas to form the eurozone's largest bank. Its roots reach back to the Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris, founded in the revolutionary year of 1848. ## 19 March 2001 to 2006 — Bank of Japan launches quantitative easing The Bank of Japan becomes the first major central bank to adopt an explicit quantitative easing policy, targeting the level of bank reserves after interest rates hit zero. ## 1 January 2002 — Euro notes and coins enter circulation Euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies such as the mark, franc, and lira in everyday use. Millions of people began handling a shared currency for the first time. ## March 2007 — M-Pesa mobile money in Kenya Safaricom launched M-Pesa, letting people store and send money using basic mobile phones and a network of agents. It brought financial services to millions without bank accounts and became a global model for mobile money. ## 2008 — Zimbabwe's hyperinflation Zimbabwe experienced one of the worst hyperinflations on record, with prices doubling in a matter of days and the government printing notes in the trillions. The country eventually abandoned its own currency in favor of foreign money. ## 25 November 2008 to 2010 — US Federal Reserve begins quantitative easing (QE1) In response to the financial crisis the Federal Reserve begins large-scale asset purchases, buying mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries to inject money into the system. ## c. 2008 — Quantitative easing After the financial crisis, central banks created new money to buy government bonds and other assets, a policy known as quantitative easing that Japan had pioneered earlier in the decade. It became a major tool for supporting economies when interest rates were near zero. ## 3 January 2009 — Bitcoin's genesis block An anonymous developer using the name Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin by mining its first block, creating a decentralized digital currency with no central issuer. It introduced the blockchain as a way to record transactions without a trusted middleman. ## November 2010 to 2014 — Federal Reserve expands QE2 and QE3 The Fed launches further rounds of quantitative easing, ultimately quadrupling its balance sheet to over four trillion dollars before tapering the purchases in 2014. ## 2014 — Tether and the rise of stablecoins Tether launched a cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value pegged to the US dollar. Stablecoins like it became a widely used bridge between traditional money and crypto markets. ## 22 January 2015 — European Central Bank starts quantitative easing Under Mario Draghi the ECB begins a bond-buying program to fight deflation in the euro zone, extending quantitative easing to Europe years after Japan and the United States. ## 30 July 2015 — Ethereum and programmable money Ethereum launched a blockchain that could run programmable contracts, extending the technology beyond simple payments. It enabled new forms of digital assets and applications built on smart contracts. ## c. 2020 — China's e-CNY and central bank digital currencies China began public trials of a digital yuan issued directly by its central bank, one of the largest tests of a central bank digital currency. Many countries began studying or piloting similar official digital money.