Midland Bank

Great Britain’s fourth largest joint-stock commercial bank. Established in 1836 in Birmingham under the name Birmingham and Midland Bank.

In the late 19th century the Midland Bank absorbed practically all the provincial banks of central England, Wales, and eastern England, as well as several London banks, whereupon its board of directors was transferred to London. In the early 20th century its influence spread to Northern Ireland and Scotland. The bank acquired its current name in 1923. By the late 1960’s the Midland Bank had become full owner of the Clydesdale Bank in Glasgow, the Northern Bank in Belfast, and 17 financial companies in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Midland Bank is closely associated with aviation and electrical engineering monopolies, the Dunlop rubber monopoly, investment trusts, and insurance companies. It participates in Midland Citibank Factors (50 percent ownership), the Industrial and Commercial Finance Company (50 percent ownership), Scottish Computer Services, Ltd. (55 percent ownership), and others. The Midland Bank pioneered in the creation of multinational banking groups for the extension of medium-term credits (longer than five years), and held 45 percent ownership in Midland and International Banks, Ltd., established in 1964 as the first bank of this type. Other such groups of which the Midland Bank is a member are the European Credit Bank (Brussels, 14 percent ownership), the European-American Banking Corporation (New York, 14 percent ownership), the Euro-Pacific Finance Corporation (Sydney, 17 percent ownership), and the Malta Banking Corporation (Valletta, 13 percent ownership).

The Midland Bank is third in the country in number of branch banks, with a total of 2,658 in 1972. The bank has an agency in the United States that is authorized to receive deposits. The bank’s total balance in early 1973 was £5,897 million, with attracted capital of £5,546 million and paid capital of £97 million.