On the banks of the river Tiber, The Empress Building houses the Eridanus Imperial Bank (EIB). Along with the sister site, The Juliana Building on Imperial Prime, the secure vaults protect and manage the financial history of the sector. The EIB has functioned as both the foremost loan authority in the sector and the de facto imperial treasury during the interregnum. When most people in the sector imagine House Eridanus, the EIB is typically the organization most associated with the noble house.
While the keys to the Imperial Treasury are held in trust for the next Imperial House, the EIB has taken the initiative to manage the top level finances of the sector. A board of representatives of the noble houses and The High Church oversees the distribution of block grants to ensure that no house is shortchanged or excessively funded in these trying times. Historically the Imperial Bank has worked closely with the Imperial Treasury and has functioned as a middleman between the various interested parties to ensure equitable terms for all.
Activities and Responsibilities[]
Functions of the Imperial Bank include various implementations of monetary policies for the betterment of the empire and stability of the markets.
Advisors to the Emperox[]
As servants of the Empire, the functionaries and bureaucrats of the EIB help the Emperox and the Imperial House in implementing sound monetary policies designed to foster a strong and stable empire. The Bank is often the primary advisor to the Emperox on financial matters, often pursuing steady growth, but ultimately are a piece of the Empire and follow the guidance of the Messiah.
Regulators of Imperial Interest Rates[]
Independent of the Emperox, the Imperial Bank sets official interest rates to manage both inflation and exchange rates. A variety of policy mechanisms are used to ensure that banking and business across the sector are protected from the whims of the markets and the Emperox.
As the middle-man between the noble houses and the Imperial Treasury, the bank executes the Emperox house block grants and helps provide more direct aid for projects.
House Block Grants[]
The Primary method in which noble houses receive monies from the Emperox is Block Grants. The grants are flat sums given to each house, with major houses naturally receiving more than minors. A panel of representatives from the noble houses and The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox have managed these accounts since the death of the Betrayer of Humanity.
Project or Research Grants[]
If individuals or organizations are unable to finance their projects privately or through the funds of a house, the EIB can provide an alternate source of capital. Proposals for funding are presented to a review board of the Imperial Bank who give their recommendations to the Emperox. If the proposed projects are found to be for the betterment of the empire, the recipients are not required to pay back any of the funding.
The Black Book[]
In addition to the two above processes, an alternate system exists for covert projects which require more funding than any one house can reasonably excuse to auditors. The Black Book is a secret and semi-legal source of capital for such clandestine operations. Transactions made between noble houses and the Black Book account are made without the oversight of the Emperox. Rumor has it that the Eridanii Vaultkeeper controls these accounts and has ultimate say on who receives these monies.
The Emperox’s Banker[]
As the lender of last resort, the EIB functions as the Emperox’s banker and the banker’s bank. Providing loans on the condition of sound fiscal responsibility, the EIB can keep failing economies afloat and has, for those willing to take the austerity measures seriously, turned ruin to riches.
Imperial Banking Insurance Commission[]
The EIB, in addition to assisting in the disbursement of Treasury fund, is the foremost authority on loans in the sector. Any individual or organization who wishes to offer loans needs to be accredited by the EIB to do so legitimately. After the needlessly complex bureaucracy and red tape, the review process is quite straightforward thanks to the innate Eridanii efficiency.
Monetary Policies and Goals[]
Price stability and steady economic growth, as they are key to a strong imperial economy, are the primary goals of the EIB. For the empire to continue, the value and the imperial credit is under heavy restrictions and insured to maintain at steady by a complex mechanism of open market operation, bank reserve requirements, flexible interest rates, and practices like re-lending and re-discounting among other policy instruments.
Supervision and Governance[]
The Vaultkeeper is the head of the Imperial Bank. Above all else, the Emperox has the final decision in policy making and supersedes the policies of the Vaultkeeper.
Interregnum Policies[]
The Eridanus Imperial Bank during this period of interregnum functions as a proxy to the Imperial Treasury. Without an Emperox to order new taxes, create new laws, nor execute new programs, the EIB and the Office of the Traxarch maintain the same rates as during the last year of the Emperox’s rule and use the institution of the EIB to organize imperial funds. Detailed records of both the incoming tax revenue from the empire by the Office of the Taxarch and grants leaving the bank are kept the ensure that the next Emperox is not short-changed and to ensure a peaceable sector in their stead. A rigorous auditing process where the margins of error are kept at a much higher standard than regular Eridanii business protects the interests of the Emperox and by extension God themselves.
The Vault Guardians[]
The Custos Dojo is a recently opened Dojo on Demnoph taught by Yaksha Reticulum Batsaikhan Scipio, an Aomori-trained master. Accepting a small number of Reticulum students from Tiber, Demnoph, and Aomori, the style of the school focuses both on protecting assets and minimizing collateral. The students are trained to be able to fight on both the ground and in the air through the use of propulsion packs. A small number of the students are trained alongside a species of gene-engineered Yaks that have the ability to both run at high speeds on the ground and up the walls of buildings. These Yaks (a favorite species of Yaksha Scipio’s) are massive creatures which can go head-to-head with smaller armored vehicles and maximize shoving power when on the chase, giving the riders an advantage over the opponents on the ground.
With a few rare exceptions, the graduates of this dojo make up the Imperial Vault Guardians. These elite mounted warriors protect the Imperial Bank locations on Tiber, Demnoph, and Imperial Prime. While patrolling the bank grounds and scaling its walls, these guardians make for an intimidating presence, but their true worth is within the tight confines of the vaults themselves. There, the guardian yaks and their riders can easily sweep hallways and corridors of any threat to the sanctity and safety of the bank.
History[]
- 2217 - Formed in the early days of the first Emperox, House Eridanus was charged with the responsibility of managing the Imperial Bank.
- 2874 - In the wake of a H.E.X. Crash, the Tiberian branch of the Bank was moved upriver to Tyr the new capital.
- 3200 - After the hostilities following the death of The Betrayer of Humanity, a staged reopening brought imperial banking back to the war-torn sector.
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