文档介绍：The Business of Investment banking
By
. Vedpuriswar
History
Banks have been around since the first currencies were minted .
Coins could be stored more easily than modities.
These coins, however, needed to be kept in a safe place. 
Ancient homes didn't have the benefit of a steel safe.
So most wealthy people held accounts at their temples.
Most temples were also the financial centers of their cities.
That is why they were ransacked during wars.
Gradually there emerged a class of wealthy merchants that took to lending these coins, with interest to people in need.
Temples generally handled large loans as well as loans to various sovereigns, and these new money lenders took up the rest.
The Romans took banking out of the temples and formalized it within distinct buildings.
Julius Caesar allowed bankers to confiscate land in lieu of loan payments.
This was a monumental shift of power in the relationship of creditor and debtors.
Landed noblemen were untouchable through most of history.
They passed debts off to descendants until either the creditor's or debtor's lineage died out.
The Roman Empire eventually crumbled, but some of its banking institutions lived on .
Eventually, the various monarchs that reigned over Europe noted the strengths of banking institutions.
Royal powers began to take loans to make up for hard times at the royal treasury - often on the king's terms.
This easy finance led kings into unnecessary extravagances, costly wars and an arms race with neighboring kingdoms that led to crushing debt.
Banking in USA
In the early years of the nation, the average life for an American bank was five years, after which most bank notes from the defaulted banks became worthless.
These state-chartered banks could only issue bank notes against gold and silver coins they had in reserve.
Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, established a national bank that would accept member bank notes at par, thus floating banks through difficult times.
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