Bank of England
The Bank of England was founded in 1694 to lend money to the government to fund the rebuilding of the navy, and other military pursuits against the French by London merchants and financiers. It was allowed to be the first incorporated bank in the country, rather than being limited to 6 partners, as all banks were 1826, meaning it could issue shares to raise finance. It began as a private commercial bank, but was later nationalized in 1946. The Governor of the Bank of England, currently Mark Carney, is responsible for the management of the bank, along with the Executive Team of deputy governors and directors. As a commercial bank and the central bank of the United Kingdom there are several key functions it undertakes, including some that it has exclusive rights or duties to.
The Bank of England is exclusively the banker to the government of the United Kingdom, which is done through the holding of the Exchequer account through which all incoming and outgoing payments of the government go. This account is also known as the Consolidated Fund, as it joins together the areas of the governments accounts[1], as all public monies (such as taxation) goes in and most expenditure goes from it[2].
The Bank of England also handles the management of National debt predominantly through the issue of Treasury Bills. A Treasury Bill is a debt security issued on a weekly basis for £100. The bills are tendered to the amount required by the government, and bid on each week. They are issued for 3, 6 or 12 months and represent a charge on the consolidated fund[15].
The Bank of England is solely responsible for the issue of notes of legal tender, and the only legitimate issuer of notes in England and Wales. Although there are banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland sanctioned to print notes as legal currency, these are not legal tender and therefore are accepted for