Read report by Marianna Astore here
GloCoBank Associated Researcher Jamieson Myles will be giving a paper based on his GloCoBank project research at the European Business History Association Annual Conference 2024 which is being held in Carcavelos and Lisbon, Portugal on 11-13 July 2024. The conference also features a paper by GloCoBank associated researcher Marianna Astore.
'Elastic Infrastructure: Payments and Credit in Global Correspondent Banking'
Abstract
The growing involvement of fintech firms in the international payment system (IPS) has brought attention to the oligopolistic group of global correspondent banks providing this public-interest infrastructure (Brandl and Dieterich 2021). However, the limited historical studies of correspondent bank networks (composed of bilateral nostro/vostro accounts held by banks) means little is known about the relationship between correspondent banks and the IPS or how it has changed over time. This paper asks what the daily practice of correspondent banking reveals about the changing shape of interbank networks and their role in the IPS. To that end, the paper draws on the archives of European commercial and merchant banks and mobilises the “money view” notion that payment systems are characterised by a tension between elasticity and discipline (e.g. Mehrling 2015) as a framework for exploring correspondent banks’ changing role in mediating that tension. The paper argues that,until the ITC revolution enabled a practical and conceptual separation between the payment system’s clearing/settlement and credit dimensions in the late twentieth century, global correspondent banks consistently addressed them as part of the same package. This congruence of settlement and credit is reflected in their organisational structure, in correspondent relationship managers’ constant preoccupation with credit facilities,and in the langue bankers used to describe payment systems. The paper’s main message is that we need to take into account credit—including interbank liquidity and trade finance denominated in key currencies—to more accurately understand the historical dynamics of global correspondent banking and its role in the IPS. It is of direct relevance to the business history of banking, payment systems specialists, and political economy.
Keywords
financial history, banking history, infrastructure, payment systems,political economy
For full details and programme visit: https://www.ebha2024.pt/
