This comparative, international study looks at origins and business strategies of multinational banks. A distinguished team of bankers and academics from the United States, Japan, Europe and Australia survey the evolution of multinational banks over time and suggest a conceptual framework in which this development can be understood.

List of figures and tables. List of contributors. Preface 1. Banks as Multinationals 2. Evolution of Multinational Banks: a theoretical perpective 3. Competitive advantages in British multinational banking since 1890 4. Paradise lost? British banks in Australia 5. Structural alternatives and constraints in the evolution of exchange banking Frank 6. German banks abroad before 1914 7. The Rothschilds: ownership advantages in multinational banking 8 The Imperial Ottoman Bank in the later nineteenth century: a multinational ‘national’ bank? 9. Swiss international banking 1890-1950 10. Chinese business and banking in South-East Asia since 1870 11. The Yokohama Specie Bank: a multinational in the Japanese interest 1879-1931 12. Banks over borders: some evidence from their pre-1914 history 13. US multinational banking: history and prospects 14. US investment banks as multinationals. Index.