Framväxten av ett lokalt banksystem : Oppunda sparbank, Södermanlands enskilda bank och stationssamhället Katrineholm 1850-1916

The principal purpose of the thesis is to describe and analyze the emergence and development of the local banking system in the railway junction community of Katrineholm during the period 1850-1916. The actors (i.e. Oppunda Savings Bank and Södermanland's Enskilda Bank), the rule structure and the markets that jointly formed the local banking system are studied. Local developments are consistently related to the transformation of the Swedish banking system as a whole, principally in order to illuminate the relationship between the local and the national banking systems. Cooperation between the savings bank and the commercial bank, personal networks within the community and local control constitute three characteristics of the local banking system established in Katrineholm. Insider lending was widespread in both banks. The insider loans were largely limited to a small group of individuals who also held key positions in the local banks, government and business. As a result a local bank-industry network was established. Despite the increasingly extensive public legislation and intervention, neither Oppunda Savings Bank nor Södermanland's Enskilda Bank hesitated to make their own interpretation of both the formal and informal rules. Thus, in practice, local, private interests often had a stronger influence on the banks' behavior than did the formal rule structure. The local banking system that was established in this railroad junction community, just like the older, pre-existing informal financial system, was embedded in social relationships and was dependent on the influence exerted by centrally placed individuals. Locally based traditions and personal relationships thus constituted the glue that held the local banking system in Katrineholm together