The British Bank of Northern Commerce was founded in February 1912 by Knut Agathon Wallenberg of the

Stockholms Enskilda Bank Stockholms Enskilda Bank, sometimes called Enskilda banken or SEB, was a Swedish bank, founded in 1856 by André Oscar Wallenberg as Stockholm's first private bank. In 1857, Stockholms Enskilda Bank began to employ women, claiming to be the fir ...

and

Emil Glückstadt Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

of Landmandsbanken ( Copenhagen), together with several other banks including Centralbanken for Norge ( Christiania), Banque de Commerce de l`Azoff-Don (

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

), and

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(Paris). The purpose of the bank was to facilitate trade between the United Kingdom and northern Europe. The bank financed Finland after the country achieved its independence from Russia in 1917-18. In June 1919 the bank offered the chairmanship of its board to John Maynard Keynes with the assurance that in return for a salary of £2000 the job would only take a morning a week. Keynes had met Wallenberg and Glückstadt during World War I and the offer was attractive. However, Keynes consulted with several bankers in the City and turned the offer down.Moggridge (1995), p.352. In October 1920 British Bank of Northern Commerce merged with C.J. Hambro & Sons, with the combined bank taking the name Hambros Bank of Northern Commerce. In August 1921 the bank shortened its name to Hambros Bank, in part because it did not want a name that was too limiting.

Citations and references

Citations References *Moggridge, Donal Edward (1995) ''Maynard Keynes: An Economist's Biography''. (Taylor & Francis). {{ISBN, 978-0-415-12711-0 *Wechsberg, Joseph (1966) ''The merchant bankers''. (Little, Brown). Defunct banks of the United Kingdom Banks established in 1912 1912 establishments in the United Kingdom