During this interminable crisis, few banks globally have managed to thrive. One of the few happens to be Hoare & Co in the UK. Last year, Richard Morais did a little bit of a hagiographic spread on them for Barrons.
However, he neglected to provide much detail on the bank’s most interesting trait, unlimited liability. Forget banker bonuses and returning to the gold standard, I doubt we would be in the middle of this mess if every banker, auditor, lawyer and compliance consultant had to put their house, car and cufflinks on the line when signing off a new product.
P.S. if you ever have the chance to visit Hoare & Co’s Fleet Street offices, they are remarkable. Forget the cold glass and steel of modern architecture in the City; it’s all wood paneling and guards in top hats, enjoyably reminiscent of the Ministry of Magic in the Harry Potter films
