Industry WIKI

On February 14, 2025, Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, promoted a cryptocurrency project called $LIBRA. The price of the meme coin spiked following Milei's promotion but then suffered a severe price drop, leading to allegations of a rug pull scam and $251 million in losses for investors. This scandal has been dubbed Cryptogate. The Economist called it the "first big scandal" of

$Trump (stylized in all caps) is a meme coin cryptocurrency associated with United States president Donald Trump, hosted on the Solana blockchain. One billion coins were created; 800 million remain owned by two Trump-owned companies, after 200 million were publicly released in an initial coin offering (ICO) on January 17, 2025. Less than a day later, the aggregate market value of all coi

In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Egypt and Syria launched a large-scale surprise attack in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the territories that they had lost to Israel

Russia's monetary reform of 1993 took place from 26 July to 7 August 1993.

Russia launched a monetary reform on January 1, 1998. Preparation started in August 1997. Replacement of the old banknotes occurred gradually, until 2002.

The sale of the British gold reserve was a policy pursued by HM Treasury between 1999 and 2002, when gold prices were at their lowest in 20 years, following an extended declining market. 395 tonnes of gold, or about half of the reserve, was sold off in a series of auctions, netting the Treasury $3.5 billion. In the ensuing 25 years, from 1999 to 2024, the price of gold increased at an av

The 20,000 Colombian peso note ($20,000) is one of the notes in circulation in Colombia. It is about 143 × 66 millimeters and the predominant color is orange. The front features former Colombian president Alfonso López Michelsen and a sugar apple, while the reverse shows a sombrero vueltiao and the canals of La Mojana. The first series of 20,000 peso notes was issued from 1996 to 2016. T

During the 2000s, United States housing prices experienced a sharp run up and subsequent collapse affecting over half of the U.S. states. In many regions, a real estate bubble was the impetus for the subprime mortgage crisis. Housing prices, which peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and reached new lows in 2011. On December 30, 2008, the Case–Shiller home price in

Between May 2006 and the end of 2012 there were 67 finance company collapses in New Zealand, including companies entering into liquidation, receivership or moratoria. An inquiry by the New Zealand Parliament estimated losses at over $3 billion that affected between 150,000 and 200,000 depositors. The most high-profile collapses were South Canterbury Finance, Hanover Finance and Bridgecor

The 2008 financial crisis was a major worldwide financial crisis which started in the U.S. The first phase was the subprime mortgage crisis, which began in early 2007 as mortgage-backed securities (MBS) tied to U.S. real estate, and a vast web of derivatives linked to those MBS, collapsed in value. A liquidity crisis spread to global institutions by mid-2007 and climaxed with the bankrup

During the period 2007–2009, the UK government intervened financially to support the UK banking sector, and four UK banks in particular.

A second bank rescue package totalling at least £50 billion was announced by the British government on 12 January 2009, as a response to the 2008 financial crisis. The package was designed to increase the amount of money that banks could lend to businesses and private individuals. This aid came in two parts: an initial £50 billion made available to big corporate borrowers, and a second u

The flash crash of May 6, 2010, , also known as the crash of 2:45 or simply the flash crash, was a United States trillion-dollar flash crash (a type of stock market crash) which started at 2:32 p.m. EDT and lasted for approximately 36 minutes.

In April and May 2012, large trading losses occurred at JPMorgan's Chief Investment Office, based on transactions booked through its London branch. The unit was run by Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew, who later stepped down. A series of derivative transactions involving credit default swaps (CDS) were entered, reportedly as part of the bank's "hedging" strategy. Trader Bruno Iksil, nic

The Swiss sovereign money initiative of June 2018, also known as Vollgeld, was a citizens' (popular) initiative in Switzerland intended to give the Swiss National Bank the sole authority to create money.

On July 15, 2020, between 20:00 and 22:00 UTC, 130 high-profile Twitter accounts were compromised by outside parties to promote a bitcoin scam. Hackers used social engineering against Twitter employees to gain access to administrative tools, allowing them to post the tweets directly. The scam tweets asked individuals to send bitcoin currency to a specific cryptocurrency wallet, with the

The 2022 Henan banks protests were a series of demonstrations against four regional banks of Henan province, including Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank, Shangcai Huimin County Bank, Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank and New Oriental Country Bank of Kaifeng, over alleged financial corruption. Deposits totaling around 40 billion yuan at these four banks in Henan, as well as at Guzhen Xinhua

The 2023 United States banking crisis was a series of bank failures and bankruptcies that took place in early 2023, with the United States federal government ultimately intervening in several ways. Over the course of five days in March 2023, three small-to-mid size U.S. banks failed, triggering a sharp decline in global bank stock prices and swift response by regulators to prevent poten

Since late February 2026, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the 2026 Iran war disrupted roughly 20 percent of the world's oil supply, triggering a global economic downturn and fuel shortages. The Philippines, which imports most of its oil from the Middle East, was particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions because of its heavy dependence on imported petroleum.

Bombay 5-6, also known as simply 5-6 (pronounced "five six"), is an informal financial platform in the Philippines. Lenders do not require collateral, including documents, to potential borrowers.

The apsar (Abkhaz: аԥсар, āpsār; symbol:) is a currency of Abkhazia. So far, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, and 100 apsars and banknotes in denominations of 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 apsars have been issued. While the coins and banknotes are legal tender in the Republic of Abkhazia, their usage is limited, and they are mostly made for collectors. In Abkhazia, t

In sociology, academic capital is the potential of an individual's education and other academic experience to be used to gain a place in society. Much like other forms of capital (social, economic, cultural), academic capital doesn't depend on one sole factor—the measured duration of schooling—but instead is made up of many different factors, including the individual's academic transmiss

An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset management, liability management, and valuation skills. Actuaries provide assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mec

A variable-rate mortgage, adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), or tracker mortgage is a mortgage loan with the interest rate on the note periodically adjusted based on an index which reflects the cost to the lender of borrowing on the credit markets. The loan may be offered at the lender's standard variable rate/base rate. There may be a direct and legally defined link to the underlying inde

In economics, insurance, and risk management, adverse selection is a market situation where asymmetric information results in a party taking advantage of undisclosed information to benefit more from a contract or trade.

Affirm Holdings, Inc. is an American financial technology company and a point-of-sale lender. Founded in 2012 by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, it is the largest U.S. based buy now, pay later (BNPL) financier. As of 2026, Affirm reports nearly 28 million users and processes $50 billion in annual payments.

At the 2025 The Hague NATO summit, member states pledged to increase defence spending to five percent of GDP in what is called The Hague Investment Plan.

Agricultural finance is a branch of finance which comprises financial services for agricultural production, processing and marketing, leasing (both land and equipment), and crop and livestock insurance.

Airtel Payments Bank is an Indian payments bank with its headquarters in New Delhi. The company is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.

An alternative financial service (AFS) is a financial service provided outside traditional banking institutions, on which many low-income individuals depend. In developing countries, these services often take the form of microfinance. In developed countries, the services may be similar to those provided by banks and include payday loans, rent-to-own agreements, pawnshops, refund anticipa

AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in operation since 1980. It allows companies that are smaller, less-developed, or want/need a more flexible approach to governance to float shares with a more flexible regulatory sys

Alternative risk transfer (ART) is the use of techniques other than traditional insurance and reinsurance to provide risk-bearing entities with coverage or protection. The field of alternative risk transfer grew out of a series of insurance capacity crises in the 1970s through 1990s that drove purchasers of traditional coverage to seek more robust ways to buy protection.

Amalgamated Bank is an American financial institution. It is the largest union-owned bank and one of the only unionized banks in the United States. Amalgamated Bank is currently majority-owned by Workers United, an SEIU Affiliate.

The American Investment Council (AIC), formerly the Private Equity Growth Capital Council (PEGCC), is a lobbying, advocacy, and research organization based in Washington, D.C., that was launched by a consortium of private equity firms in February 2007. It focuses on defending and promoting the private equity and growth capital investment industry to lawmakers and the public at large. Its

American Psycho is a horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investment banker who lives a double life as a serial killer. Alison Kelly of The Observer notes that while "Some countries [deem it] so potentially controversial that it only to be sold as shrink-

An Introduction to Islamic Finance is a book written by Pakistani scholar Taqi Usmani on Islamic banking and finance. The book remains one of the gateway publications on Islamic finance. Most of the focus of the book is on banking rather than fund management. The author urges Islamic banks to develop their own culture, as ultimately it is the value system that matters. The book displays

The Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy (also known as the circular transactions controversy) began in Dublin in December 2008 when Seán FitzPatrick, the chairman of Anglo Irish Bank (the state's third-largest bank), admitted he had hidden a total of €87 million in loans from the bank, triggering a series of incidents which led to the eventual nationalisation of Anglo on 21 January

Annual percentage rate of charge (APR), corresponding sometimes to a nominal APR and sometimes to an effective APR (EAPR), is the interest rate for a whole year (annualized), rather than just a monthly fee/rate, as applied on a loan, mortgage loan, credit card, etc. It is a finance charge expressed as an annual rate. Those terms have formal, legal definitions in some countries or legal j

The National Social Security Administration (Spanish: Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social; mostly known by its acronym ANSES) is a decentralized Argentine Government social insurance agency managed by the Secretariat of Labour, Employment and Social Security controlled by the Ministry of Human Capital.

Anti–money laundering (AML) refers to a set of laws, regulations and institutional practices designed to help financial institutions and other regulated entities prevent, detect, and report money laundering and related financial crime. (Anti–money laundering is sometimes paired with combating the financing of terrorism, using the initialism AML/CFT.) In addition to regulatory and supervi

The Argentine debt restructuring is a process of debt restructuring by Argentina that began on January 14, 2005, and allowed it to resume payment on 76% of the US$82 billion in sovereign bonds that defaulted in 2001 at the depth of the worst economic crisis in the nation's history. A second debt restructuring in 2010 brought the percentage of bonds under some form of repayment to 93%, t

Arthur Dantchik (born 1957) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist who is a co-founder and the managing director of Susquehanna International Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania-based financial services firm founded in 1987. As of September 2026, Dantchik's net worth was estimated at $19.5 billion.

The Asian Monetary Fund (AMF) was an idea put forward by the Japanese government during the 1997 Asian financial crisis at the G7-IMF meetings in Hong Kong during September 20–25, 1997, that was never implemented. The proposal was that an institution be formed to work towards setting up a regional network funded by Asian countries to overcome current and future economic crisis.

An Asian option (or average value option) is a special type of option contract. For Asian options, the payoff is determined by the average underlying price over some pre-set period of time. This is different from the case of the usual European option and American option, where the payoff of the option contract depends on the price of the underlying instrument at exercise; Asian options a

Asset protection (sometimes also referred to as debtor-creditor law) is a set of legal techniques and a body of statutory and common law dealing with protecting assets of individuals and business entities from civil money judgments. The goal of asset protection planning is to insulate assets from claims of creditors without perjury or tax evasion.

The term asset swap has a number of different meanings:

An asset-backed securities index is a curated list of asset-backed security exposures that is used for performance bench-marking or trading.

An asset-backed security (ABS) is a security whose income payments, and hence value, are derived from and collateralized (or "backed") by a specified pool of underlying assets.

Asset-based lending is any kind of lending secured by an asset. This means, if the loan is not repaid, the asset is taken. In this sense, a mortgage is an example of an asset-based loan. More commonly however, the phrase is used to describe lending to business and large corporations using assets not normally used in other loans. Typically, the different types of asset-based loans include

The Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and for Citizens' Action (French: Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières et pour l'Action Citoyenne, ATTAC) is an activist organisation originally created to promote the establishment of a tax on foreign exchange transactions.

The Association of African Central Banks is an international organization of central banks that promotes monetary, banking, and financial cooperation among its African member states.

The Association of German Public Banks (German: Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands, generally referred to as VÖB) is a leading association within the German banking sector, bringing together most of the German public banking sector except the local-level savings banks (German: Sparkassen). Its membership includes 63 banks, including the Landesbanks that are also members of th

The European Commission's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (previously the Return Fund, the Refugee Fund, and the Integration Fund) is a funding programme managed by the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs which promotes the efficient management of migration flows and the implementation, strengthening and development of a common approach to asylum and immigration in

An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance or account information inquiries, at any time and without the need for direct interaction with bank staff.

The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), originally the ATM Owners Association, was established in 1997 in the United States as a global nonprofit trade association to service an industry that built around the global growth of the ATM.

An auction rate security (ARS) typically refers to a debt instrument (corporate or municipal bonds) with a long-term nominal maturity for which the interest rate is regularly reset through a Dutch auction. Since February 2008, most such auctions have failed, and the auction market has been largely frozen. In late 2008, investment banks that had marketed and distributed auction rate secur

Audit Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Buidheann-sgrùdaidh na h-Alba) is an independent public body responsible for auditing most of Scotland's public organisations.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government and the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry. APRA was established on 1 July 1998 in response to the recommendations of the Wallis Inquiry. APRA's authority and scope is determined pursuant to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act, 1998 (C

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors. ASIC, which reports to the treasurer, was established on 1 July 1998 following recommendations

Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange. The ASX was formed on 1 April 1987, through incorporation under legislation by the Parliament of Australia as an amalgamation of the six state securities exchanges. It merged with the Sydney Futures Exchange in 2006.

Automated cash handling is the process of dispensing, counting and tracking cash in a bank, retail, check cashing, payday loan / advance, casino or other business environment through specially designed hardware and software for the purposes of loss prevention, theft deterrence and reducing management time for oversight of cash drawer an unable operations.

The Bachelier model is a model of an asset price under Brownian motion presented by Louis Bachelier in his PhD thesis The Theory of Speculation (French: Théorie de la spéculation), published 1900. It is also called the normal model equivalently (as opposed to log-normal model or Black–Scholes model). One early criticism of the Bachelier model is that the probability distribution which h

In options trading, the backspread is the converse strategy to the ratio spread and is also known as the reverse ratio spread. Using calls, a bullish strategy known as the call backspread can be constructed and with puts, a strategy known as the put backspread can be constructed.

Backwardation is a market condition where the price of a commodity's forward or futures contract price is trading below the spot price.

The dollar (sign: $; code: BSD) has been the currency of The Bahamas since 1966. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents.

The dinar (Arabic: دينار بحريني, romanized: Dīnār Baḥrēnī) (sign: .د.ب or BD; code: BHD) is the currency of Bahrain. Each dinar is divided into 1000 fulūs (singular is "fils"). The Bahraini dinar is abbreviated د.ب (Arabic) or BD (Latin). It is usually represented with three decimal places denoting the fils.

The Baltic Exchange (incorporated as The Baltic Exchange Limited) is a British financial services company and membership organisation for the maritime industry, and freight market information provider for the trading and settlement of chartering and derivative contracts.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) is the regulator of the capital market of Bangladesh, comprising Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). The commission is a statutory body and attached to the Ministry of Finance.

A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.

A bank examiner is a financial professional who has the task of making sure that banks and savings and loan associations are operating legally and safely, in accordance with the bank regulations imposed on these institutions by the chartering level of government. In the United States, they may conduct supervision on behalf of a U.S. government agency, the Federal Reserve System, a state

Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many instances, bank fraud is a criminal offence.

The Bank of Amsterdam or Wisselbank (Dutch: Amsterdamsche Wisselbank, lit. 'Exchange Bank of Amsterdam') was an early bank, vouched for by the city of Amsterdam, and established in 1609. It was the first public bank to offer accounts not directly convertible to coin. As such, it has been described by some as the first true central bank, even though that view is not uniformly shared. The

The Bank of Florence was a wildcat bank located in Florence, Nebraska Territory. It originally operated for three years in the 1850s, and another bank adopted the name and location in 1904. Today the building that housed the bank is the Bank of Florence Museum. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is the oldest building in Omaha, Nebraska.

A bank of issue, also referred to as a note-issuing bank or issuing authority, is a financial institution that issues banknotes.

The Bank of North America was the first chartered bank in the United States, and served as the country's first de facto central bank. It was chartered by the Congress of the Confederation on May 26, 1781, and opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 7, 1782.

Bank rate, also known as discount rate in American English, and (familiarly) the base rate in European English, is the rate of interest which a central bank charges on its loans and advances to a commercial bank. The bank rate is known by a number of different terms depending on the country, and has changed over time in some countries as the mechanisms used to manage the rate have change

Bank regulation and supervision refers to a form of financial regulation which subjects banks to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, enforced by a financial supervisory authority or supervisor, with semantic variations across jurisdictions. By and large, bank regulation and supervision aims at ensuring the stability of the banking sector and at fostering transparency betwe

Bank reserves are a commercial bank's cash holdings physically held by the bank, and deposits held in the bank's account with the central bank. In most countries, the central bank may set minimum reserve requirements that mandate commercial banks under their purview to hold cash or deposits at the central bank equivalent to at least a prescribed percentage of their liabilities, such as c

Banking secrecy, alternatively known as financial privacy, banking discretion, or bank safety, is a conditional agreement between a bank and its clients that all foregoing activities remain secure, confidential, and private. Most often associated with banking in Switzerland, banking secrecy is prevalent in Luxembourg, Monaco, Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland, and Lebanon, among other off-sh

A bank vault is a secure room used by banks to store and protect valuables, cash, and important documents. Modern bank vaults are typically made of reinforced concrete and steel, with complex locking mechanisms and security systems. This article covers the design, construction, and security features of bank vaults.

The banker of ancient times was employed within financial activities, during the ancient Mesopotamian, ancient Greek and ancient Roman periods.

The Bankers (Ireland) Act 1928 (18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. 15) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Bankers (Ireland) Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. 37) in application to Northern Ireland after the 1921 Partition of Ireland, and to restrict circulation, in Northern Ireland, of notes issued outside of the United Kingdom.

Banking as a service (BaaS) is the provision of banking products (such as deposit accounts, loans and credit cards) to customers through non-bank or non-financial third party partnerships. The bank provides the balance sheet management, including capital, liquidity and credit risk management, while the partner company (typically a fintech) interacts directly with the customer via their p

During the 1990s, marked by President Carlos Menem's policies of liberalization, Argentina's financial system saw a significant consolidation and strengthening, in large part through foreign investment. In addition to high reserve and capital-adequacy requirements, the Central Bank of Argentina maintained a repurchase agreement with a consortium of international banks to provide a $6,000

Banking in Australia is a central component of the country's financial system and one of the most concentrated banking sectors in the world. As of 2025 the sector contributes 7.5% of GDP and employs 450,000 people.

Modern banking in India began in the mid-18th century. Among the first banks were the Bank of Hindustan, which was established in 1770 and liquidated in 1829–32; and the General Bank of India, established in 1786 but failed in 1791.

The Banking sector in New Zealand dates back to the early days of European settlement in the country. Over the years, the banking industry has played a vital role in supporting economic growth and development, providing financial services to individuals, businesses, and the government. This article explores the significant milestones and transformations in the history of the New Zealand

Banking in Nicaragua refers to its financial system, which includes private and state-owned banks, microfinance institutions, financial cooperatives, and insurance providers. All institutions are regulated by the Superintendency of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (SIBOIF), which makes sure there compliance with domestic laws and international standards. The Nicaraguan banking sect

The Banking Industry Architecture Network e.V. (BIAN) is an independent, member owned, not-for-profit association to establish and promote a common architectural framework for enabling banking interoperability. It was established in 2008.

Banking software refers to computer systems used by financial institutions to manage and deliver banking services. These systems support functions such as account management, transaction processing, record keeping, and customer interactions across various channels. Banking software may include core baking systems as well as applications for online, mobile, and automated services. Its

Banks Board Bureau (BBB) (now replaced by Financial Services Institution Bureau since 2022) was an autonomous body of the Government of India tasked to search and select appropriate personages for the Board of Public Sector Banks, Public Sector Financial Institutions, and Public Sector Insurance Companies and recommend measures to improve Corporate Governance in these Institutions. In 20

A barrier option is an option whose payoff is conditional upon the underlying asset's price breaching a barrier level during the option's lifetime.

A basket option is a financial derivative, more specifically an exotic option, whose underlying is a weighted sum or average of different assets that have been grouped together in a basket. A basket option is similar to an index option, where a number of stocks have been grouped together in an index and the option is based on the price of the index, but differs in that the members and we

Bath Clean Air Zone is an area of central Bath, England where traffic is restricted to reduce air pollution. It became the second Clean Air Zone in the UK (after London) when it was introduced in March 2021. It has been credited with helping to reduce nitrogen dioxide pollution in the city by around a quarter since 2019, and has raised over £7 million in fines. However, critics of the sc

In options trading, a bear spread is a bearish, vertical spread options strategy that can be used when the options trader is moderately bearish on the underlying security.

A bearer instrument is a document that entitles the holder of the document to rights of ownership or title to the underlying property. In the case of shares (bearer shares) or bonds (bearer bonds), they are called bearer certificates. Unlike normal registered instruments, no record is kept of who owns bearer instruments or of transactions involving transfer of ownership, enabling the own

Bellevue Group AG, headquartered in Zurich, is a listed investment management corporation based in Switzerland. The company is active in the areas of healthcare investments, investments in small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as multi asset and bonds.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), also known as One Belt One Road (Chinese: 一带一路; pinyin: Yīdài Yīlù) and sometimes called the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure and economic development strategy pursued by the government of China since 2013. It includes projects in more than 150 countries spanning ports, railways, highways, power stations, aviation, and telecommunication

In domestic and international commercial law, a beneficial owner is a natural person (or persons) who ultimately owns or controls an interest in a legal entity or arrangement, such as a company, trust, or foundation. Legal owners (i.e. owners of record), commonly described as registered owners, may hold those interests as beneficial owners or for the benefit of someone else, in which cas

The Berenberg family (Dutch for "bear mountain") was a Flemish-origined Hanseatic family of merchants, bankers and senators in Hamburg, with branches in London, Livorno and other European cities. The family was descended from the brothers Hans and Paul Berenberg from Antwerp, who came as Protestant refugees to the city-republic of Hamburg following the Fall of Antwerp in 1585 and who est