History of the British national debt History of the British national debt The history of the British national debt can be traced back to the reign of William III, who engaged a syndicate of City traders and merchants to offer for sale an issue of government debt, which evolved into the Bank of England. In 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, British government debt reached a peak of £1 billion (that was more than 200% of GDP). At the beginning of the 20th century the national debt had been gradually reduced to around 30 percent of GDP. However, during World War I the British
Bank of British Columbia financial institutions in Canada. Revenue in 1986 was $324 million. Following financial difficulties arising from poor management, most notably by Edgar Kaiser, Jr, in 1986 the Canadian government permitted the Hongkong Bank of Canada (HSBC) to rescue it. By stepping in, HSBC acquired a large base of stable retail deposits. The acquisition immediately raised HSBC's rank amongst Canadian banks from the 20th to the 9th largest. Citations References Bank of British Columbia There have been two British Columbian/Canadian banks with the name Bank of British Columbia. The first was established by Royal Charter in 1862, with its head office in