A Bank is a financial
institution licensed by a government.
Its primary activities include borrowing
and lending money. Many other financial
activities were allowed over time. For
example banks are important players
in financial markets and offer financial
services such as investment funds. In
some countries such as Germany, banks
have historically owned major stakes
in industrial corporations while in
other countries such as the United States
banks are prohibited from owning non-financial
companies.Banking in the United States
is regulated by both the federal and
state governments of the United States
of America.
The US
banking sector's short-term liabilities
as of October 11, 2008 are 15% of the
GDP of the United States or 43% of its
national debt, and the average bank
leverage ratio is 12 to 1.
In
1781, an act of the Congress of the
Confederation established the Bank of
North America in Philadelphia,
where it superseded the state-chartered
Bank of Pennsylvania founded in
1780
to help fund the American Revolutionary
War. The level of government regulation
of the banking industry varies widely,
with countries such as Iceland, the
United Kingdom and the United States
having relatively light regulation of
the banking sector, and countries such
as China having relatively heavier regulation.
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