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The US federal government and the 50 US state governments have been deeply involved in banking for many decades -- as regulators. What would be new is for the g

The US federal government and the 50 US state governments have been deeply involved in banking for many decades -- as regulators. What would be new is for the government of a US city to become involved in banking. Which leads me to ask you, Do any of the Kreise (roughly analogous to the county governments of the US) or the Gemeinden (municipal governments) of Germany operate a bank?

dluan 7y ago
The Bank of North Dakota is a state owned enterprise. It operates ~$8B in assets. In 2017, it recorded record profits for the 14th year in a row. It survived the 2008 financial crisis and is serving its citizens just fine.
- hollerith 7y ago
  OK, but operating a bank is not particularly different IMHO from regulating the hell out of the banks with branches in your territory, which again all 50 US states have been doing for decades. (Very small US state governments with no particular opinions on how to regulate banks will probably have copied the regulations of a larger state government.) My question was whether any European city operates (or regulates) a bank. (I'm almost certain that at least some of the larger European and US cities run their own pension funds, but I want to know if the government of some European city offers bank-like services to people other than its employees.)
  - dluan 7y ago
    Sure. In Scotland for example, municipal banks are everywhere. North Lanarkshire, West Lothian, North Ayrshire, Clydebank, and East Dunbartonshire Municipal Bank all take deposits and lend to borrowers. They do everything you'd expect a commercial bank would do.
germanier 7y ago
> Do any of the Kreise (roughly analogous to the county governments of the US) or the Gemeinden (municipal governments) of Germany operate a bank Yes. In every place[1] either one or the other owns a public bank (although through mergers nowadays often two or three share one through a Zweckverband). See this list: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Sparkassen_in_Deutschland https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Sparkassen_in_Deutsc... [1]: Except Bremen, Hamburg, and some places in Schleswig-Holstein in which another kind of public bank exists.

dluan 7y ago

The Bank of North Dakota is a state owned enterprise. It operates ~$8B in assets. In 2017, it recorded record profits for the 14th year in a row. It survived the 2008 financial crisis and is serving its citizens just fine.

hollerith 7y ago
OK, but operating a bank is not particularly different IMHO from regulating the hell out of the banks with branches in your territory, which again all 50 US states have been doing for decades. (Very small US state governments with no particular opinions on how to regulate banks will probably have copied the regulations of a larger state government.) My question was whether any European city operates (or regulates) a bank. (I'm almost certain that at least some of the larger European and US cities run their own pension funds, but I want to know if the government of some European city offers bank-like services to people other than its employees.)
- dluan 7y ago
  Sure. In Scotland for example, municipal banks are everywhere. North Lanarkshire, West Lothian, North Ayrshire, Clydebank, and East Dunbartonshire Municipal Bank all take deposits and lend to borrowers. They do everything you'd expect a commercial bank would do.

germanier 7y ago

> Do any of the Kreise (roughly analogous to the county governments of the US) or the Gemeinden (municipal governments) of Germany operate a bank Yes. In every place[1] either one or the other owns a public bank (although through mergers nowadays often two or three share one through a Zweckverband). See this list: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Sparkassen_in_Deutschland https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Sparkassen_in_Deutsc... [1]: Except Bremen, Hamburg, and some places in Schleswig-Holstein in which another kind of public bank exists.