The Bankruptcy of Abraham Gibbs & Co. and the Crises of British Merchant Banking in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and in Britain

Introduction: This work examines the causes of the crisis and the fall of one of the most successful British merchant-bankers, Abraham Gibbs who by 1816 had made Sicily the centre of his financial world. It considers Gibbs' role in British political interests in the Mediterranean, as he financed the affairs of the British government there through Lord Bentinck, Nelson, Hamilton and Leckie. Aim of the work: The authors evaluate whether the Gibbs crisis was caused solely by poor management, and poor business aptitude or by other factors. The relationships Gibbs had with other merchant and bankers like Benjamin Ingham, Falconnet, Barings and Meuricoffre in London, Sicily and Malta are analysed. [Publisher's text]