Who owns the Bank of England?

Who were the original owners of the Bank of England?

Let’s start at the beginning. The ‘Governor and Company of the Bank of England’ or as most people know it, the Bank of England, was established by Royal Charter in 1694, to raise money to fund a war with France. Over 1,200 people purchased shares (known at the time as ‘Bank stock’) totalling £1.2 million, which was the value of the government loan.

The first shareholders came from a variety of backgrounds, trades and professions, including carpenters and grocers, merchants, doctors, knights and royalty.

Mike Anson, our Archive Manager, shows the first ‘Bank stock ledger’ from 1694:

The opening entry of £10,000 – held by King William and Queen Mary would be equivalent to approximately £1.25 million today.

Over the years, we raised more money to increase our capital and the number of shareholders grew. Some of the stock was held by institutions and firms, such as other banks, but the majority of shareholders continued to be private individuals.

In many ways, we functioned like other private companies. Profits were used to pay annual dividends (a financial reward from a portion of an organisation’s earnings) to our shareholders. These dividends varied year to year, depending on the level of profits.

Those with more than £500 of Bank of England stock were entitled to vote at annual meetings. Those who served as the Governor were required to hold at least £4,000 of stock and those serving as a Director needed to have £2,000.

Who owns the Bank of England today?

We are wholly-owned by the UK government. The capital of the Bank is held by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of HM Treasury.

Although we are owned by HM Treasury, we carry out our responsibilities independently. We're free from day-to-day political influence.

Find out more

Cover image: Bank of England Archive reference AC27/382