Bank Structure

The structure of the bank depends on its size. There is always a head office, or sometimes called headquarters. Each banka usually has a branch network, which can consist of branches and sub-branches.

Each bank has a different internal organisational structure, depending on the size and type of business. However, the following divisions should be part of every commercial bank: credit administration division, international and domestic banking operations, treasury and accounting, finance operations division, investment division, information services, marketing division, and human resources. These divisions or sectors can be arranged in a completely different way. Each of them has departments, sections and teams.

Organisational structure

Board of directors                               Supervisory board

Chairman

Chief Executive Officer (president)

Vice-president             Vice-president             Vice-president                   Vice-president

Finance                        Administration  International Banking           Human Resources

Departement Manager:

Treasury                      Peronal Loans              Credit department               Personnel Training

Branches (odvětví) are organised in a completely different way because they serve as selling points(slouží jako místo prodeje), the places which serve customers and make the principal profits of the bank. The most important part is a front office with counters where customers open or close their accounts, deposit or withdraw money, and so on. Then there is a back office where transactions are processed.

History of banking

The first banks were probably the religious temples of the ancient world, and probably started sometime during the 3^rd millennium B.C(before Christ). Banks probably predated the invention of money. Deposits initially consisted of grain (zbočátku se skládalo z obilí) and later other goods including cattle, agricultural produce, and eventually metals such as gold or silver. Temples (chrám) and palaces were the safest(bezpečné) places to store(sklad) gold as they were constantly attended and well built.

Medieval trade fairs helped in a way: moneychangers provided documents in exchange for hard currency. These documents could be cashed at another fair in a different country. The Crusades needed to transfer large(křižácké výpravy převedly velké sumy) sums of money to finance banking in Western Europe.

Modern Western financial history goes back to the coffee houses of 1565. Moneychangers were called bankers.