EARLY CAREER/DOCTORAL WORKSHOP: Cross-Border Payments in Historical Perspective | GloCoBank Project Event
Early Career/Doctoral Workshop on Cross-Border Payments in Historical Perspective
Wednesday 26 March 2025 | St Hilda's College | University of Oxford
Registration is now closed - contact glocobank@history.ox.ac.uk with any queries
About the workshop/conference:
International commerce has always relied on the ability to transfer funds across space and time but the evolution of the mechanics and strategies of cross-border payments remains somewhat murky. The main route for global payments in modern times has been through inter-bank relationships through which bank customers order and settle payments across borders. This framework of correspondent banking has survived the move in technology from paper to telegraph to electronic payments systems and persists into the digital era. Since 2008 the extent of the correspondent banking network has shrunk due to a variety of factors including costs of Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Finance of Terrorism regulations. This changing pattern has prompted recent research on the dynamics of the global correspondent banking network at the Financial Stability Board and the Bank for International Settlements, but to date the historical research on this critical infrastructure is limited. This workshop/conference seeks to bring together research on cross-border payments systems in a range of historical contexts.
Programme - click on titles for abstracts and speaker bios
From 12:00 Arrival and Registration
12:45 - 13:00 Welcoming Address: Catherine R. Schenk, University of Oxford/GloCoBank project
13:00 - 14:20 Session I
Chair/Discussant: Catherine R. Schenk, University of Oxford/GloCoBank
- Boyu Fang, Carlos III University of Madrid
- Brian Tsz Ho Wong, University of Edinburgh
The Money Wormhole: Hong Kong and the Failure of Japan's Currency Controls During the Pacific War
Tea/Coffee Break
14:40 - 16:00 Session II
Chair/Discussant: Marco Molteni, University of Turin/GloCoBank Associated Researcher
- Federico Castelli, University of Toulouse/University of Milan
The Reorganisation of Banca Commerciale Italiana's US Network (1935-1941)
- Olatunde Taiwo, Olabisi Onabanjo University/University of Ghana
Tea/Coffee Break
16:20 - 17:40 Session III
Chair/Discussant: Sabine Schneider, University of Oxford/GloCoBank
- Cristina Di Luigi, Banca d'Italia, Rome/University of Oxford; Antonio Perrella, Banca d'Italia, Rome/Sapienza University of Rome
- Marcus Dietrich, Heidelberg Center for American Studies
17:40 - 18:00 Closing Remarks & Discussion: Catherine R. Schenk, University of Oxford/GloCoBank project
19:00 Workshop Dinner (workshop speakers by invitation)
