17th July 1695
The Bank of Scotland is founded
The Bank of Scotland was formed under the authority of an Act of the Scottish Parliament on 17 July 1695, and it went into operation the following February. It was the first bank to be established in Scotland, with the similarly named Royal Bank of Scotland not founded until 1727.
Bank of Scotland expands
It was a trailblazer in many ways, being the first bank in Europe to issue paper currency and, after establishing branches throughout Scotland, it opened its first outpost in London. In 1959, it was the first UK bank to install a computer to process its accounts centrally.
In 2001, the Bank of Scotland and Halifax merged to form HBOS plc which, in 2008, agreed to merge with Lloyds TSB, making the combined group one of the largest in British banking.
Although a subsidiary of a larger organisation, the Bank of Scotland maintains headquarters on The Mound in Edinburgh.
Other events that occured in July
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