Mercury Provident

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Mercury Provident was the first British ethical bank, [1] noted for its "Target Accounts" which allowed depositors to select a rate of interest and a field to invest in. It was founded in 1974 and merged with Triodos Bank in 1994.

Triodos Bank company

Triodos Bank N.V. is a bank based in the Netherlands with branches in Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain. It claims to be a pioneer in ethical banking. Triodos Bank finances companies which it thinks add cultural value and benefit both people and the environment. That includes companies in the fields of solar energy, organic farming or culture. The name Triodos is derived from the Greek "τρὶ ὁδος - tri hodos," meaning "three-way approach". Triodos Bank's balance sheet was worth EUR 5.3 billion by the end of 2012. The bank was founded as an anthroposophical initiative and continues to honor the work of Rudolf Steiner as the inspiration for its approach to banking.

Contents

Principles

Mercury Provident was founded in 1974 by Christian Nunhofer and others. [2] It was later constituted as a "licensed deposit-taking institution" under the Banking Act 1979. [3] Inspired by the anthroposophical thinking of Rudolf Steiner, [4] Mercury Provident aimed to raise awareness of the functions of money and financial lending in society. [5] It offered loans to enterprises it judged to be of social and environmental value, for example Steiner schools, organic farms, [6] [7] wind farms and worker cooperatives. [8] Enterprises supported included Henry Doubleday Research Association and Weleda UK. [1]

Banking Act 1979

The Banking Act 1979 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted in the wake of the Secondary banking crisis of 1973–1975 to extend the Bank of England's regulatory powers over lenders (banks) and to provide protections for their depositors.

Rudolf Steiner Austrian esotericist

Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, economist and esotericist. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published philosophical works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy; other influences include Goethean science and Rosicrucianism.

Loan transfer of money that must be repaid

In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations etc. The recipient incurs a debt, and is usually liable to pay interest on that debt until it is repaid, and also to repay the principal amount borrowed.

Investment accounts

Investors deposited money into "Target Accounts", which allowed them to choose projects they would like their deposit to support, and to select a fixed interest rate between zero and a maximum aligned with other market rates. [4] [7] Many investors also bought "membership shares", which were not traded on the Stock Exchange. [9] In 1991 a variable-rate deposit account was introduced, offering a rate only slightly below base rate. [6]

Interest rate percentage of a sum of money charged for its use

An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited or borrowed. The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, the compounding frequency, and the length of time over which it is lent, deposited or borrowed.

Merger with Triodos

In 1994 Mercury Provident, which then had assets of about £9 million, was taken over by the larger ethical bank Triodos of the Netherlands. The decision was reported as due to an increased burden of regulatory requirements. [8]

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Bank of England Central bank of the United Kingdom

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Central bank public institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates

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Fractional-reserve banking banking system where bank holds reserves equal to fraction of deposit liabilities

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References

  1. 1 2 "Banking on People", British Universities Film & Video Council
  2. ↑ Andrew Bibby, "Ethical bank updates its homespun style", The Independent, 5 June 1993
  3. ↑ John Osmond (1986). Work in the Future: Alternatives to Unemployment. Thorsons Publishing Group. p. 107. ISBN   978-0-7225-1245-6.
  4. 1 2 James Lynch (1994). Banking and Finance: Managing the Moral Dimension. Gresham Books. p. 100. ISBN   1-85573-176-2.
  5. ↑ Christopher Schaefer; Tijno Voors (1996). Vision in Action: Working with Soul & Spirit in Small Organizations. SteinerBooks. pp. 134–5. ISBN   978-0-940262-74-4.
  6. 1 2 Alan Lewis; Karl-Erik Wärneryd (8 January 2002). Ethics and Economic Affairs. Routledge. p. 181. ISBN   978-1-134-86972-5.
  7. 1 2 New Statesman Society. 7. Statesman & Nation Publishing Company Limited. October 1994. p. 15.
  8. 1 2 Paul Gosling, "Ethical banks to merge", The Independent, 30 January 1994
  9. ↑ The Ecologist. 18. Ecosystems Limited. 1988. p. 53.
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