ABSTRACT
The streets of the City resemble some vast banking supermarket: there are more banks in London than in any other spot in the world. At the last count 325 different banks were competing for the domestic and foreign business that daily accumulates in the Square Mile. The influx of foreign representatives and the establishment of foreign branches were not the only developments prompted by the growth of the Eurocurrency markets in London. The foreign stimulus primarily came from the expansion of US corporations overseas, initially in Europe as the Common Market developed, then in Japan and elsewhere. The post-war flow of American banks to London came in two main waves. The first, in the early 1960s, involved the large and medium-sized American banks from New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The second, at the end of that decade, was dominated by the arrival of the regional banks.
