Merchants' & Traders' Trust

Historical Overview

Founding

Like all things in the Promenade, the Merchants' & Traders' Trust is rooted in the whaling industry. Early Prominere whaling was a family affair, with individual families or groups of close neighbors setting their small boats out to sea upon the spotting of a whale. As whaling was formalized and large ships were crewed, there was an added risk. The investments needed to train, equip, and construct whaling ships and their crews meant that more money would be lost upon a disaster than with a small vessel. Thus, whalers needed to be insured. In came a family of enterprising merchants, who resided near Swan Pond in what is now Banksdale. This family, which had some preexisting wealth from exporting the limited whaling products of the city at that time, began lending to new whaling vessels. For a percent of profits, the family from Swan Pond would assist in getting the ship and crew started with an investment.

Rise

As whaling got more formalized as an industry, the Pike & Sons Co. began gathering up family-based whaling ships under the leadership of their Lances. While these families of prominent whalers were loyal to House Pike, they felt some attachment to those who helped them get on their feet, as well as owing them a portion of profits. House Pike saw this as competition, and needed to reduce the percent of income going from their company to the Swan family. Coming to an agreement with the family, the Pikes lobbied House Prominere to create House Swann, for their services to the city's growing industry. In exchange, the Swanns would cancel their contracts with the Pike-allied ships. Instead, they began insuring the vessels against loss, in agreement with House Pike. Moving into the insurance business was a high-risk high-reward decision, but with the assistance of the Pikes, the Swanns formally created the Merchants' & Traders' Trust. This moved both the whaling and transport aspects of industry in the Prominade into the hands of only two families, further preventing any up-and-comers from the Seaside.

The Exchange

The Exchange Building Insuring vessels against losses to whales and the sea; merchants to losses to bandits and the general difficulty of getting product to and from the Prominade; and the families of workers against death in the dangerous industries of the Seaside was not enough for the industrious Swanns. A few decades after their consolidation, in concert with House Pike, the Swanns opened the Exchange.

"Those with whom I spoke before taking the ship from Meridia to The Promenade seemed to be under the impression the merchants at the Exchange were Cothrum himself. Never have I heard more pompous words with less actual meaning than here." - Isobard Quickquill, Decadence of the Upper Half

The Exchange was an innovative concept in Anhara at the time, and put House Swann on the map nationally. The Exchange started as the headquarters of the M&T Trust, after it outgrew the Banksdale neighborhood. The Promenade was a busy port, independent of the whaling industry, given its proximity to both the eastern half of Anhara and the Litoric Islands. Merchants congregated here, and with the booming economy of the city at the time, there was an excess of money ready to be invested. This investing began taking place in the new M&T Trust building, where merchants gathered to share information, and the money-flush residents of the Landside listened closely for what products would see higher demand. The Exchange began dealing in currency exchanges, commodity price listings, insurance, and investment in nascent companies and merchants.

The Bank of Anhara

The Merchants' and Traders' Trust took responsibility for much of the money floating around the Exchange, evolving from an insurance and investing company to a bank and currency exchange as well. This brought them into conflict with the much older and established Bank of Anhara. Dating back to the 400s of the Age of Rule, the House Semillon run Bank of Anhara had, by this point, established a Rostrum-approved monopoly on banking within the nation. As the official bank and currency exchange of Anhara, House Semillon brought Swann to court in Meridia, before the Court of Mediation.

"The Honorable Windston Silver of Meridia has ruled in favor of House Swann, finding M&T Trust does not violate the Bank of Anhara monopoly legislation, a truly just ruling indeed." - Podspot Herald

The court ruled in favor of House Swann, based on the wording of the antiquated law on monopolies, and blew the market for banking wide open. From this point forward, M&T Trust was established not only as the premier bank of House Prominere's territory, but a popular bank and exchange for the growing, un-landed, middle classes of Anhara.

Founding Date

501AR

Type

Financial, Bank

Alternative Names

M&T Trust

Parent Organization

House Swann

Location

The Promenade