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Western EuropeDecember 5 2005

New guild is better late than never

References to the Guild of International Bankers in London may cause some readers to think it is a venerable institution with deep historical roots.
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The origins of guilds for trades and professions in Britain predate 1066. The Farriers have trouble tracing their history for the 300 years after 1356 (when they were established as a fellowship) because all records were destroyed in 1666’s Great Fire of London. By contrast, the Guild of International Bankers became the 106th Company of the City of London on September 21, 2004.

Why was the Guild, to put it in the words of the Master, Michael Kirkwood, (whose day job is head of corporate banking for UK and Ireland for Citigroup) 400 years late in being born?

Perhaps bankers thought the advancement of their business was better served by joining other people’s guilds where they could network with potential customers. Perhaps the financial community wanted to keep its head down; in Shakespeare’s time, charging interest on loans was socially unacceptable (as it is now in the Islamic world) and banking was far from being the ideal profession. “Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” as Lord Polonius says in Hamlet.

Bankers have come a (relatively) long way since then and now find themselves marginally ahead of journalists and real estate agents in the social acceptability stakes. But surely they can do better? With its emphasis on promoting good business conduct, charitable works and education, the Guild of International Bankers should help to advance the profession.

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