Answer: The Bank of England
The Bank of England (formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of England) is (despite its name) the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for HM Government. The Bank was privately owned and operated from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalised in 1946. In 1997 it became an independent public organisation, wholly-owned by Government, with independence in setting monetary policy.
