The term national bank has several meanings: National is the Japanese brand under which Matsushita products are sold. ... A bank is an institution that provides financial service, particularly taking deposits and extending credit. ...

• especially in developing countries, a bank owned by the state
• an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally)

In the past, the term "national bank" has been used synonymously with "central bank", but it is no longer used in this sense today. Some central banks may have the words "National Bank" in their name; retrospectively if a bank is named in this way, it is not automatically considered a Central Bank. Example: National-Bank AG in Essen, Germany is a privately owned commercial bank, just like National Bank of Canada of Montreal, Canada. On the other side, National Bank of Ethiopia is the Central Bank of Ethiopia and National Bank of Cambodia is the Central Bank of Cambodia A developing country is a country with low average income compared to the world average. ... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government/anarchy, and possessing internal and external and even in your pantssovereignty. ... National Bank of Canada is the sixth largest bank in Canada, and so is one of the Big Six banks. ... National Bank of Ethiopia is the Central Bank of the African country Ethiopia. ...

Australia

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was founded by an Australian Act of Parliament in 1911. Bank Nationalisation was the policy of the Andrew Fisher Labor Government. In a rare move for the time, the bank was to have both savings and general bank business. The bank was also the first bank in Australia to receive a Federal Government guarantee. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (commonly just the Commonwealth Bank) is the second largest bank in Australia, after the National Australia Bank. ... In Westminster System parliaments, an Act of Parliament is a part of the law passed by the Parliament. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Nationalization is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ... Rt Hon Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 1862 - 22 October 1928), Australian politician and fifth Prime Minister of Australia, was born in Crosshouse, a mining village near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, Scotland. ...

In 1958 and 1959, there was a controversy concerning the dual function of the bank as the central bank on the one hand and a general bank on the other. As a result of this, the bank was split, giving the reserve bank function to the Reserve Bank of Australia and the general bank function to the Commonwealth Banking Corporation. 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Reserve Bank of Australia in Martin Place, Sydney The Reserve Bank of Australia came into being on the 14th January 1960 to operate as Australias central bank and banknote issuing authority. ...

The Commonwealth bank was privatised it in the 1990s the Keating Labor government. At present it is the second largest bank in Australia, after the National Australia Bank which has always been privately owned. Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or — especially in India — disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. ... Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944), Australian politician and 24th Prime Minister of Australia, came to prominence first as the reforming Treasurer in the Hawke government, then as the Prime Minister who pulled off an upset victory in the unwinnable election of 1993. ... The National Australia Bank {ASX: NAB, NYSE: NAB} colloquially the National or the NAB, is the largest bank in Australia. ...

United States

In the United States, the term "national bank" has a precise meaning: a banking institution chartered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC"), an agency in the U.S. Treasury Department, pursuant to the National Bank Act. Notwithstanding the name, not all "national banks" have nationwide operations. Some "national banks" have operations in only one state. Further, some state-chartered banks have nationwide operations, but are not properly called "national banks." "National banks" should also be distinguished from federal savings associations (which include federal savings & loans and federal savings banks), which are financial institutions chartered by the Office of Thrift Supervision, another agency in the U.S. Treasury Department. The United States Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury was established in 1863 and serves to charter, regulate and supervise all National banks and the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks. ... The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), an agency in the U.S. Treasury Department, is the primary regulator of federal savings associations (sometimes referred to as federal thrifts). ...

External link

• Alexander Hamilton: FOR THE BANK (Feb 23 1791)
• James Madison Debates the Constitutionality of a National Bank